SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana women's basketball team proved to be too much for Sioux Falls on Friday night defeating the Cougars 76-68 inside the Sanford Pentagon. The win not only improved the Vikings 8-4 on the season and 7-3 in conference play but gave head coach
Dave Krauth his 1,000th career victory when combining college and high school wins.
The Vikings struck first scoring seven unanswered points forcing a USF time out just over a minute into the game. However, the Cougars were quick to get back in the game scoring eight unanswered themselves within the next two minutes. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams.
Big points came from junior
Janelle Shiffler, coming off the bench, as she scored six of the Vikings 19 points to close the first quarter with the AU ahead by three.
At the 7:05 mark in the second, the Cougars tied the game with a triple from Lauren Sanders. From that point, the Vikings were able to distance themselves from USF with a 9-0 run concluding at the 5:47 mark and then a 6-2 run with two minutes to play in the half.
Augustana would have its largest lead of the night going into halftime at 38-27.
The Vikings shot lights out in the third quarter, shooting 58 percent on 10-17 shot attempts.
Just when the Cougars thought they had found breathing room down by three at the 3:19 mark in the third quarter, the Vikings went on a 9-0 run. Junior
Vishe' Rabb accounted for five of the nine points and scored an additional 3-pointer with just 45 seconds remaining in the quarter.
A final-second basket by sophomore
Aislinn Duffy gave the Vikings a 61-46 lead with one quarter remaining.
The Cougars came out in the fourth quarter going on a 6-2 run but the deficit for USF proved to be too much as the two squads just traded basket-for-basket in the 76-68 Augustana win.
Augustana was led by senior
Hannah Mitby with 22 points and sophomore
Lauren Sees led the team with six rebounds. Sees and Duffy also accounted for 13 points each.
Augustana's bench accounted for 21 of its 76 points with Shiffler scoring 10 points, Rabb scoring eight points and sophomore
Kenzie Rensch accumulating three points as well.
Sioux Falls was led by Anna Brecht with 22 points and a trio of Cougars garnered six rebounds in Brecht, Kiara James and Krystal Carlson.
It's been an exciting couple of weeks for Krauth as he celebrated his 650th win at Augustana on Jan. 29. Since then, he has added three more victories that when combined with his 347 high school wins, give him 1,000 in his head coaching career.
Augustana returns to action tomorrow for the second contest against Sioux Falls with tip-off slated for 3 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon.
--GoAugie.com--
