CROOKSTON, Minn. – Augustana women's basketball held off a late rally from the Golden Eagles of Minnesota Crookston to claim the hard fought 71-67 conference road victory on Saturday night.
 
The win moves the Vikings to 4-16 overall and 2-12 in conference action while the Golden Eagles fall to 7-13 on the year and 5-9 in the NSIC.
 
Hannah Burg led the scoring for AU with 24 points alongside five steals as Olivia Hayenga joined with 20 points. Paige Grant dropped 12 points as Payton Hardy pulled down 10 rebounds and Brinlee McRae dished three assists.
 
The Vikings forced 18 turnovers and 13-of-51 shooting from beyond the arc for UMC while holding the advantage in rebounding 45-41 and going 15-of-20 from the free throw line.
 
Augustana started hot against the Golden Eagles, quickly sprinting out to an 8-0 lead courtesy of Hayenga, Hardy and Burg. That eventually grew to a 13-4 lead off a triple from Burg, but the home team slowly began to creep back. After UMC drained back-to-back 3-pointers, the Vikings held on to the 15-12 advantage after the first quarter.
 
The Golden Eagles rallied back in the second quarter, getting hot from beyond the arc and forcing trips to the free throw line. After losing the lead for the first time at 20-19, a jumper from Burg helped Augustana regain control at the 5:27 mark. Six straight UMC points flipped the lead once again but a triple and a steal from Burg combined with a bucket from CJ Adamson tied things up at 30 with 1:16 remaining in the half. An exchange of 3-pointers ended things, with the scored tied at 33 at the break.
 
After tying up once again at 36 to open up the third quarter, the Vikings locked in and went on a sizzling and dominating 13-0 run—with Hayenga scoring 10 of those points—over the next four minutes. The Golden Eagles were scoreless for nearly seven minutes, finally break the streak with 1:15 remaining. Burg would fend off back-to-back triples from the home team to score back-to-back layups and secure the 53-42 lead.
 
Despite scoring the first five points of the quarter, UMC scored 11 straight points with three 3-pointers to close in at 58-45 with 8:55 remaining. Grant broke the streak but the home team continued to crawl back. Back-to-back Viking jumpers along with a layup made it a nine-point difference until seven straight points from the Golden Eagles forced a 69-67 game with one minute remaining. Burg drilled both free throws and the Vikings turned up the defense to hold on for the 71-67 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Augustana will face Southwest Minnesota State at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in Marshall, Minn., before returning home to take on Wayne State at 2 p.m. on Saturday.