SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Three Vikings finished in double figures as Augustana clawed at a comeback against Central Missouri before eventually falling 80-71 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Hannah Burg dropped a career-high 20 points off 8-of-10 shooting from the field alongside a team-high seven assists. Payton Hardy scored 14 to go with a team-high nine rebounds as Paige Grant finished with 10 points and five rebounds in her 24 minutes of action.
 
Augustana shot an even 50% from the field (29-58) and 64.7% from the free throw line (11-17) while also grabbing down 32 total rebounds and dishing 15 assists.
 
Brinlee McRae struck early for the Vikings, logging a steal and a layup within the first 10 seconds of the game. An early three-pointer and trip to the free throw line soon put Central Missouri ahead by two and the battle was on. With the Jennies up by four, a layup from Uzor Uchidiuno and a free throw from Hardy made it 12-11. But UCM soon closed the first quarter with five straight points, making it 17-11.
 
After the visitors scored five points out of the break, Olivia Hayenga hit a jumper to close in at 22-15. But the Jennies hit back with seven straight points to push the lead to 14. CJ Adamson hit a triple and Augustana responded with a 6-0 run of their own to cut it to seven once again. An exchange of baskets—plus a bucket from Isabella Sanneh at the buzzer—gave the visitors the 37-30 lead at the break.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle to start the second half, as the lead was still locked at seven at the 6:50 mark following a tip-in from McRae. Layups from Central Missouri twice pushed the difference to 10, but Hardy and Adamson teamed up to bring it down to six with 1:48 left in the period. The Jennies scored three more and Hardy dropped the final bucket of the third to make it a 56-49 game.
 
Despite starting the fourth with an exchange of baskets, the Jennies blasted out an 8-0 run to take a 16-point lead with 6:07 remaining. Augustana rattled off a 9-2 run—featuring four points from Burg and a steal and triple from Hardy—to make it a 74-65 game. But the comeback would stop there, as free throws from Central Missouri pushed the lead back to double digits. Burg would make a layup with 12 seconds remaining, but the score would go final at 80-71 in favor of the visitors.
 
Up Next
Augustana will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 21 with a cross-town battle at Sioux Falls, with a 7 p.m. scheduled tip.