DULUTH, Minn. – The Augustana women's basketball team battled with first-place Minnesota Duluth for 40 minutes but ultimately fell 64-56 Friday night in Duluth, Minnesota.
 
Minnesota Duluth remains in first place of the NSIC with a 15-2 league mark and is 18-5 overall. Augustana, who has dropped just two games over the last nine played, falls to 13-8 on the season and 9-8 in conference play.
 
The Vikings and Bulldogs were square after the first quarter at 13-all, but UMD slipped past Augustana by five points in the second quarter to enter halftime leading 34-29.
 
Redshirt freshman Lizzy Karp made her presence known in the first half totaling 14 points, marking a season-high.
 
The two squads then played an even third quarter, each team tallying 20 points in the period. The Vikings pulled within a single point at 48-47 thanks to a 7-0 run but couldn't get over the final hump as AU entered the final period trailing 54-49.
 
The Bulldog lead grew to as many as nine points and the Vikings were unable to overcome the deficit in the final quarter shooting an uncharacteristic 2-for-17 in the final period.
 
Karp's season-high led the Vikings while senior Hana Beyer totaled 11 points and reigning NSIC South Division Player of the Week Aislinn Duffy added 10 points. Junior Hannah Mitby and Beyer each grabbed six rebounds while senior McKenzee Zilverberg and Beyer each dished four assists.
 
Minnesota Duluth was led by Brooke Olson with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Augustana shot 33.3 percent from the field on 21-of-63 field-goal attempts as UMD shot 40.4 percent on 23-of-57 shot attempts.
 
The Vikings close out the brief two-game road trip at St. Cloud State Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m.