MARSHALL, MINN. -- For the second time this year, it was Lauren Sees securing a huge rebound for the Augustana women's basketball team. This time, Sees got the rebound and put it back in on emotion to push the Vikings ahead of Southwest Minnesota State with 1.6 left in the game.
The win came as a tall order Friday night as the Vikings trailed by as many as 17 points in the contest but forced SMSU turnovers in the second half to force overtime before Sees' game-winning basket.
The Vikings move to 7-3 on the season and 6-2 in the loop, extending their win streak to five. While Southwest Minnesota State moves to 6-3, 4-3. The victory keeps Augustana in first place of the NSIC while Southwest Minnesota State drops from the one-line to the three.
Augustana's victory also gave head coach Dave Krauth his 999th career victory when combining his 347 high school wins and 652 wins at Augustana.
Sees, a sophomore, came up big when Augustana needed a bucket most after Krauth took a full timeout with 23 seconds left in overtime. Sees collected a rebound under the basket, and collected herself enough for the put-back with under two seconds remaining. The Vikings' defense then held on during the Mustangs' last effort.
Augustana spent most of the game trailing the Mustangs after coming out hot in the first, having a 10-5 lead at the 7:45 mark in the first. From there, SMSU would find big runs to extend its lead, making five threes in the first half and a 44-29 halftime advantage.
The Vikings came out in the second half looking to forget the first two quarters.
After a made lay-up by Caleigh Rodning at the 5:46 mark in the third, Augustana went on a 13-0 run to bring the game within three points, coming from a basket inside by junior Camryn Hay with 3:04 to go in the quarter.
The two teams traded baskets the remainder of the quarter which showed the game in favor of the Mustangs by six heading into the final quarter.
Augustana's defense proved to be too much for SMSU in the fourth with the Vikings causing seven turnovers good for 11 points and five steals.
AU found itself down by two with 14 seconds left in the game when head coach Dave Krauth took a timeout to advance the ball and draw up a play.
With two seconds left, sophomore Aislinn Duffy was able to get a look from the post and kiss the ball off the glass. The Mustangs were unable to answer with a shot of their own, the game was headed into overtime.
The Vikings continued their defensive havoc on the Mustangs, recording two more steals and causing two additional turnovers.
Sophomore Kenzie Rensch accounted for one of those steals and also had a big lay-up in overtime which added to her career-high six-point night.
Augustana was led by Duffy with 20 points and 10 rebounds, achieving the third double-double of her career. Izzy Van Veldhuizen and Sees each tallied 14 points for AU.
The Mustangs were led by Sadie Stetler with 21 points and Caleigh Rodning with eight rebounds.
The two squads will return to action for the second of two games tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the R/A Facility with Krauth looking for the unique milestone of 1,000 combined victories.
--GoAugie.com--
