WAYNE, Neb. - The Augustana Vikings closed out its 2024 NSIC slate with a 62-55 loss to Wayne State on Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium. 

Olivia Hayenga led all scorers with 15 points and added four steals while shooting 6 of 13 from the field. Isabella Sanneh scored a career-best 12 points and had a pair of blocks off the bench. Hannah Burg led the team with five assists while Payton Hardy had eight rebounds. 

Hayenga, Burg and Brinlee McRae each found the bottom of the bucket to help give AU a 6-4 lead early. A 7-0 Wildcat run followed before a Hayenga 3-pointer made it an 11-9 AU deficit with 3:35 remaining in the first quarter. 

After nearly two scoreless minutes, Hayenga cashed in on an and-one to give AU a lead. A Paige Grant layup and Burg 3-pointer rounded out the Viking scoring in the quarter, canceling out five Wildcat points to give AU a 17-16 lead into the second quarter. 

The Vikings were held scoreless for the first 5:31 of the second quarter as WSC marched ahead with an 8-0 run before a Hayenga layup stopped the drought and brought AU within 24-19. The Wildcats scored the next five points but a Kaz Parks 3-pointer and a layup from Sanneh brought the halftime score to 29-24 in favor of WSC.

It was Sanneh who opened AU's second half scoring and ended a 5-0 Wildcat run with a layup to stay within single digits. The layup led a 9-2 run, capped by a Hayenga and-one, to get the Vikings within a possession at 36-33 with 4:23 remaining in the third. A 12-2 Wildcat run recreated separation and Sanneh sandwiched a WSC layup with a pair of her own to bring the Wildcat lead to 50-39 into the fourth quarter. 

Parks cashed in from deep to open the fourth quarter scoring before WSC put the game out of reach. A 10-0 run gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the night at 60-42 with 6:33 left in the game.  

In the final six and a half minutes, the Viking offense came alive. McRae, Burg, Sanneh and Parks combined to close the game on a 13-2 run, bringing the game to its final score. 

The Vikings will return to the Elmen Center on New Years Eve for a 4 p.m., tipoff against Mount Marty.