SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's basketball team completes the back end of its final road trip of the NSIC season as the Vikings travel to Minnesota Crookston and MSU Moorhead. Tip-off on Friday in Crookston, Minnesota, is slated for 5:30 p.m. Saturday's game at MSU Moorhead is at 3:30 p.m.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Minnesota Crookston is 9-15 overall and 6-12 in the NSIC after losing to Bemidji State and Northern State last weekend. UMC has dropped nine in a row and 10 of their last 11 since the Vikings defeated them in January. 

Emma Miller leads the team with 17.6 points and 3.3 assists per game. Janie Tormanen adds 12.7 points per game while grabbing 5.7 assists per game. 

ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead is 9-14 overall and 9-9 in the NSIC. They split against Minot State and UMary last weekend, and are 6-6 since defeating the Vikings last month. 

Natalie Jens leads the team with 14.6 points and 3.9 assists per game while adding 2.2 steals per game. Terryn Johnson is also in double-figures, scoring 10.1 points and grabbing a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game. 

MILESTONE TRACKER
The Vikings have a trio that is inching their was towards the top of the program record books. Jennifer Aadland currently holds the program record for career free throw percentage at 85.8 percent. She also has 107 career blocks, good for 10th in program history. Kenzie Rensch has been a thief in her time with AU, racking up 215 career steals, and is a pair of steals away from 10th on the all-time steals list. Lauren Sees is seventh on the all-time scoring list with 1,577 points and is tied for sixth in career starts with 104. She is one of four players in program history to score at least 1,500 points and start at least 100 games. 

SEES THE MOMENT
In her final season, Lauren Sees continues to climb the ranks in Augustana history. The fifth year guard from Avon, S.D., is second on the team with 14.0 points per game and leads the team with 2.6 assists per game. After reaching the 1,000 career point milestone in the middle of last season, Sees has continued to climb up the Augustana rankings. She has now scored 1,577 points in her career, good for seventh in program history. That number is also good for 24th among active career leaders in all of DII and is 24th with 578 made field goals. 

POURING IT IN
Michaela Jewett sits tied for No. 7 in the NSIC with 14.9 points per game while Lauren Sees ranks tied for 11th with 14.0 points per game. The 28.9 combined points per game is the fourth most by a duo in the NSIC. They are also one of two sets of teammates to rank in the top 11 of the NSIC. Jewett has gotten it done from deep, ranking third in the NSIC with 2.2 3-pointers per game and 48 total 3-pointers. 

CLEANING THE GLASS
The Vikings have earned key contributions from Jennifer Aadland, Michaela Jewett, and Aby Phipps in their efforts on the boards this season. Aadland ranks second in the NSIC in defensive rebounds per game (6.2), tied for second in rebounds per game (8.0), and third in total rebounds (175). Jewett ranks eighth in defensive rebounds per game (5.7) and seventh in rebounds per game (6.8), while Phipps finds herself third among conference challengers in offensive rebounds (2.3). The Vikings are the only team in the NSIC to have a player in the top three for both offensive and defensive rebounds per game. 

BALL SECURITY
A common theme among the 2023-24 Vikings is their protection of offensive possessions. Augustana ranks 53rd in the nation in fewest turnovers per game, coughing it up just 14.3 times per game. Two major reasons why are Kenzie Rensch and CJ Adamson. Both rank in the top ten in the conference in assist/turnover ratio, with Adamson averaging 1.75 and Rensch adding 1.62.

BRILLIANCE BEYOND THE ARC
The Vikings have made at least one three pointer in every single game since the 1999-2000 season, totaling 734 consecutive games with a make. In the same time frame, Augustana has made at least 10 three pointers in 177 games, including three times this season.

JEWETT'S JUMP
After seeing a jump in her role last season, Michaela Jewett has cemented herself as one of the NSIC's best. She leads the team with 14.9 points per game and 48 made 3-pointers. She also ranks second on the team with 6.8 rebounds per game. 

THE AADLAND EFFECT
Jennifer Aadland has been one of the most efficient shooters in the NSIC while causing havoc in the paint. She has shot 41.9 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from three, and 85.4 percent from the free throw line. She also leads the team with 8.0 rebounds per game, 1.3 blocks per game, and six double-doubles while scoring 10.9 points per game. 

NSIC LEADERS
In 18 NSIC conference games, Michaela Jewett and Lauren Sees have played at an extremely high level. Jewett is averaging 14.3 points per game, 10th in the conference, while Sees slots in at 11th scoring 14.2 points per game. Jennifer Aadland has grabbed 7.9 rebounds per game, good for fifth, and Michaela Jewett is tied for 10th with 6.6 rebounds per game. Jewett is also third in the NSIC in both 3-point field goals (37) and 3-point field goals per game (2.1)

FUTURE VIKINGS
Augustana head coach Jillian Flores Bennett has added three future Vikings as part of the 2024 signing class. On National Signing Day, Olivia Kesti of Blaine, Minn., and Avery Yosten of Norfolk, Neb., signed their National Letter of Intent. Earlier this month, the class added Isabella Sanneh of Woodbury, Minn.

GOING WITH THE FLO
First-year head coach, Jillian Flores Bennett, earned her first victory in the Elmen Center on Nov. 21 in a 73-56 win over Sioux Falls. Coach Flo is 25-23 as a head coach at a four-year institution after spending 2021-22 with Our Lady of the Lake, where she went 20-11. She spent last season with Iowa Western, where she accumulated a 26-5 record and region championship appearance. 

SHINING STARS
Michaela Jewett and Lauren Sees were named to the NSIC Shining Five for games played Dec. 19-Jan 2. Jewett averaged 17.5 points per game in a pair of games, fourth best in the conference, and added an NSIC-best six three pointers and 9.5 rebounds per game. Her performances were highlighted by a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double against Northwestern (Iowa). Sees tied for the NSIC lead with 22.0 points per game while knocking down 12 of 27 from the field, 5 of 9 from three-point range, and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line. Against Northwest Missouri State, she scored 24 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, on 8 of 13 shooting, 2 of 3 from deep, and 6 of 6 from the free throw line.