MOORHEAD, Minn. – Augustana women's basketball dropped a conference road game to MSU Moorhead on Friday night, 57-43.
 
The loss moves the Vikings to 3-16 overall and 1-12 in conference action while the Dragons move to 8-11 this season and 6-7 in the NSIC.
 
Olivia Hayenga led the scoring with 10 points while Hannah Burg followed with seven and Paige Grant and Kelsey Willems each added in six. Jordan Munson collected five rebounds as Payton Hardy and Brinlee McRae each tallied two steals.
 
Augustana struck first with a layup from Hayenga but the home team would respond with five straight points. A triple from Hannah Burg brought the game back to a 10-9 difference for AU until a 7-2 streak from the Dragons made it 17-11 at the break.
 
Six unanswered points from Terryn Johnson pushed the lead to double digits and a 3-pointer from Hayenga broke the momentum. Burg brought the difference down to five but another six straight points forced a 29-18 deficit at the half.
 
Despite an early bucket from Hardy, it was a slow start and defensive battle to kick off the third quarter. Then the Vikings gathered a 7-2 run of their own over a two-minute frame to make it a 10-point game once again with 2:06 remaining. MSUM would hit a 3-pointer as time expired to hold on to the 40-27 advantage heading into the final quarter.
 
A tip-in from Grant and a layup from Lola Chambers started the fourth but the lead would soon balloon to 14. Hayenga hit another triple followed by a bucket from Burg to bring it back to single digits with 2:52 remaining in the game. The home team immediately pushed back with a 7-1 run, fighting off a late triple from Willems to end it 57-43.  
 
The Vikings will head to face Minnesota Crookston tomorrow afternoon to resume action with a 5:30 p.m. tip scheduled.