Box ScoreThe Augustana women's basketball team nearly overcame a 13-point second-half deficit before falling 65-62 to No. 11 Stonehill (Mass.) Friday at the Disney Tip Off Classic in Orlando, Fla.
The Vikings (0-1) trailed 38-30 at halftime and then saw the Skyhawks score the first 5 points of the second half to take a 43-30 lead.
But Augustana chipped away at the deficit. The Vikings finally tied the score 44-44 on a jumper by
Alison Adamson with 13:16 to play in the game.
Minutes later, Adamson gave Augie its first lead of the game at 51-50 when she converted a layup with 9:31 on the clock.
Stonehill reclaimed the lead and increased their lead to 5 at 61-56 with 1:39 remaining, but Augustana fought back.
Whitney Hofer's basket with 1:02 left cut the lead to 63-62.
Hofer then stole a Skyhawk pass, but
Chelsea DeVille could not convert the layup with 43 seconds left. The Vikings forced another turnover, giving themselves another chance to take the lead. However, Adamson missed a 3-point shot and Stonehill got the rebound.
After Tiffany Huggins made to free throws to make the score 65-62 with 14 seconds on the clock, Augustana had a final chance to tie the game. But Hofer could not find the range on a 3-point shot. Augie's
Ashley Holiday got the rebound, but her pass back to the perimeter went out of bounds.
Holiday had a solid second half, scoring 13 of her team-high 14 points in the final 20 minutes. She also grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Adamson joined her in double figures with 12 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. Hofer also had a strong outing in her first career start by recording 8 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
Augustana shot 37 percent from the field, but only 19 percent (4-for-21) from 3-point range. In addition, the Vikings made only 8 of 20 free throw chances, compared to 16 of 22 for Stonehill.
The Vikings will be back in action Saturday at noon (EST) against West Texas A&M.
