Box Score
Faced with the prospect of dropping back-to-back home games, the Augustana women’s basketball team rallied late in regulation and then controlled overtime to defeat Northern State 69-58 Saturday night at the Elmen Center.
Augustana improved to 19-6 overall and remained in a tie for second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 13-5 league record. Northern State, meanwhile, slipped to 12-13 overall and 8-10 in the NSIC.
The Vikings, who are now 3-0 in overtime games this year, struggled in the shooting department for the second-straight night, but they came up with the big shots when they needed them. Trailing 53-51 with 23 seconds left in regulation,
Megan Doyle hit a short jumper in the lane to knot the score at 53-53 with 17 seconds left on the clock.
Northern State had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Emily Becken’s 3-point shot was off the mark.
In overtime, it was Northern State that couldn’t make a field goal. The Wolves took an early lead in OT when Maggie Bryant made 1 of 2 free throws to give NSU a 54-53 lead. But Augustana took control of the game from there.
Amy Puthoff sank 2 free throws and Doyle added another to put Augustana in front 56-54 with 4:14 left in overtime.
Kristi Board then made Augie’s only field goal in overtime as she drained a 3-pointer to increase the Vikings’ lead to 59-54 with 3:18 remaining.
From there, Augustana made 9 of 12 free throws to extend its lead to 68-54 with 25 seconds on the clock.
Northern State missed its first 8 field goals in overtime before Lennea Mueller converted a layup with 15 seconds on the clock. The Wolves also went 4:20 without scoring.
Augustana broke open a close game midway through the first half. Trailing 13-12, the Vikings went on a 15-3 run to take a 27-16 lead with 4 minutes left in the half. Doyle sparked the rally with 8 points, while
Faith Tinklenberg added 5 points.
But NSU knocked down 4 3-pointers in the final 3:26 to trim Augustana’s lead to 30-28 at intermission.
Augustana, which shot a season-low 27.5 percent on Friday, shot 34 percent from the field against the Wolves. Meanwhile, NSU shot 33 percent. The Vikings also owned a huge advantage at the free throw line. Augustana converted 25 of 32 charity tosses, while NSU made 7 of 12 attempts.
Doyle led the Vikings with 16 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Puthoff added 15 points, while
Whitney Hofer picked up her fourth-straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Becken led Northern State with 14 points, while Mikayla Barondeau added 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Augustana plays its final home game of the regular season on Wednesday when the Vikings entertain third-ranked Minnesota State University, Mankato at 6 p.m. in the Elmen Center. Augustana is the only team to beat the Mavericks this season.