SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana women's basketball team heads into the weekend with a pair of South Division matchups against Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. On Thursday, the Vikings will take on the Mustangs at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday at the Elmen Center before a 5 p.m., Saturday tip-off at the Stewart Center against the Cougars. 
 
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.

The Mustangs 
Southwest Minnesota State was selected to finish fourth in the NSIC and opened the season No. 18 in the WBCA Top 25. The Mustangs are 2-4 on the year and have lost their last three games, including their NSIC opener against USF. Audrey Swanson has scored 18.0 points while grabbing 7.8 rebounds per game while Nicole Maenke has knocked down 17 3-pointers and averages 17.0 points per game.

The Cougars 
Sioux Falls was selected to finish in a tie for second in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll and are off to a 4-2 start, including the win over SMSU in their conference opener last week. Anna Vaaler has been dominant, averaging 23.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while Ayla Brown adds 10,2 points per game while dishing 6.3 assists a game.

Series History
Augustana is 28-19 all-time against SMSU but have dropped five of the last six games in the series. The Vikings are 16-4 on their home court. The Vikings are 37-16 against the Cougars all-time and look for revenge after dropping both matchups a season ago.

Last Time Out
The Augustana women's basketball team dominated from deep to knock off North Central 106-47 on Thursday night at the Elmen Center. 

The 106-point outburst is the most for a Viking team since November 21, 2013. The 59-point victory is also the largest margin of victory for AU since the same game, a 108-46 win over Presentation. 

AU shot 54.3 percent from the field, the highest single-game shooting percentage since 2023, and knocked down 16 of 33 3-pointers while limiting the Rams to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and 4 of 16 shooting from deep. 

Isabella Sanneh scored 19 points on 8 of 14 shooting while grabbing 17 rebounds and grabbing three steals to lead the team while Kristin Edmonds knocked down five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Mia Donald scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 20 bench minutes while 

Greta Dillinger scored 12 points on 4 of 6 from deep. Maliyah Elliott scored nine points and dished six assists with four steals and Payton Hardy added a pair of blocks to seven points and six rebounds. 

The Vikings
The Vikings are 3-3 with a pair of losses coming in overtime. 

After a monster stretch, Isabella Sanneh leads the team with 16.2 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Payton Hardy is right behind her with 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field. 

Maliyah Elliott has been a spark plug among the newcomers, scoring 9.3 points and leading the team with 4.0 assists per game. Another newcomer having success beyond the arc is Kristin Edmonds, knocking down 16 of 30 from long range and averaging 8.7 points per game. 

A freshman turning heads is Addie Hanna. Making three appearances off the bench and three starts, Hanna has scored 5.8 points per game while going 13 of 15 from the free throw line. Greta Dillinger has joined Edmonds with sucess from beyond the arc, knocking down nine of 15 3-point attempts in four games off the bench.