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This week
No. 25 Augustana (19-5, 16-4 NSIC) closes out the regular season at MSU Moorhead (14-10, 11-9 NSIC) Friday at 6:05 p.m. and at Minnesota, Crookston (9-15, 6-14 NSIC) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Television
Midco Sports Network will carry Friday's contest live against MSU Moorhead. Jay Elsen will handle play-by-play, while Al Bahe will provide color commentary. MidcoSN can be found on channels 26 or 622 (HD) for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
Series records
Augustana and MSU Moorhead have squared off 15 times since 1990-91, and the Vikings lead the series 11-4. Augustana has won the last two contests with the Dragons, including a 98-66 victory in Sioux Falls on Dec. 18. Minnesota, Crookston handed Augustana its first conference loss of the season at home on Dec. 17. The Golden Eagles narrowly edged the Vikings 73-70 in the contest that gave Augustana just its second loss in the series. The Vikings have notched 10 wins against UMC since 1999-00. All meetings with MSUM and UMC have come under Viking head coach
Dave Krauth. For more on the series turn to pages 9 and 10.
Last time out
Then-No. 3 Wayne State's Ashley Arlen scored all 19 of her points in the second half to lift the Wildcats to a 59-56 victory over then-No. 23 Augustana last Saturday afternoon.
Alex Feeney notched a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds to record her seventh double-double of the season.
Emily Schulte was also in double-digit scoring for Augustana with 14 points, and
Andrea Whitney had two of the Vikings' four blocks.
Molly Hayes handed out a game-high six assists.
Next assists leader
Now in her fourth season as a starter for Augustana,
Molly Hayes (Harrisburg, S.D.) is three assists away from becoming the next career-assists leader. Hayes has tallied 111 assists this season and recorded 155 assists in 2010-11.
1. 569 Sandra Zwach (1993-97)
2. 567 Molly Hayes (2006-08, 2009-12)
Tallying turnovers
Augustana had difficulty holding on to the ball in its first half against Wayne State last Saturday, committing 10 turnovers in the game's opening 20 minutes--the most for the Vikings since they reached 12 on Jan. 20 at Upper Iowa. The statistic is uncommon for Augustana, which has only reached double-figure turnovers in the first half in four games this season.
Four from the floor
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls) is known for her defensive abilities on the court, but she was an offensive superstar against Wayne State, drilling a game-high four 3-point buckets. She also made both of her free throws to turn in a 14-point performance.
Offensive Strife
Wayne State held Augustana to 56 points last Saturday, which is 20.2 points less than the Vikings' season average. Augustana has racked up 70 or more points in 18 games and poured in a season-high 98 points against MSU Moorhead on Dec. 18. The 53 points the Vikings scored on Northern State on Dec. 10 was a season low.
Double duty
Andrea Whitney (Sartell, Minn.) performed double duty last Saturday, competing for Augustana's track and field team at the Wayne State Mini-Meet in the afternoon before appearing off the bench for the Vikings later in the day in their game against WSC. She won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4.25 inches and later grabbed five rebounds, scored three points and had two assists in the Vikings' basketball game.
Securing second
The Vikings' loss to Wayne State hasn't completely left them out of the running to tie for first in the final conference standings. WSC would need to drop its final two games of the regular season and the Vikings would need two wins to wrap up conference play. Augustana--three games ahead of U-Mary--has secured a spot at No. 2.
Feeney's figures
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) is the only Viking to earn a double-double in more than one game this season. She earned her seventh double-double of the season last Saturday, tacking on 11 boards to her 20 points. The event marked her ninth time as both Augustana's game-leading scorer and rebounder.
Reviewing the records
After dropping to Wayne State 59-56, Augustana fell to 3-3 in games decided by 1-4 points. Other three-point losses for the Vikings were to Minnesota, Crookston (73-70) in the teams' first meeting of the season and to Minnesota State (98-95ot) earlier this month. Augustana has found success this season in tight games against Concordia University, St. Paul (80-77), Winona State (57-55) and St. Cloud State (80-78).
Doubled up
Cami Koehn's (Egan, S.D.) playing time has doubled from last season and in the process she has also doubled her scoring average. In 2010-11, Koehn was on the court for an average of 7.9 minutes per game compared to the 14.3 minutes per game she sees now. The junior guard has used the time to increase her scoring average from 2.3 points to 4.7.
Cleaning the glass
Although
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) led Augustana with 11 rebounds at Wayne State, the Vikings had four players tie for the second-place spot.
Lydia Nelson (Lake Preston, S.D.),
Emily Schulte (Sioux Falls),
Faith Tinklenberg (Pipestone, Minn.) and
Andrea Whitney (Sartell, Minn.) all collected five boards to help Augustana outrebound WSC 38-35.
Regional
Augustana is ranked No. 3 in the inaugural Central Region rankings of the season, the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Committee announced last Wednesday. At the time the rankings were released, Augustana had a Division II and in-region record of 17-4. Wayne State is No. 1 in the Central Region. The Wildcats, ranked third in the country, have a Division II and in-region mark of 22-2. Metro State (Colo.) checked in at No. 3. Other NSIC teams in the top 10 include No. 6 U-Mary, No. 7 Minnesota State, No. 8 MSU Moorhead, No. 9 Minnesota Duluth and No. 10 St. Cloud State. The top-eight teams in the final region rankings advance to the NCAA tournament.
DII In-Region
1 Wayne State (Neb.) 22-2 22-2
2 Metro State 20-2 20-2
3 Augustana 17-4 17-4
4 Fort Lewis 18-3 18-3
5 Colorado State-Pueblo 18-4 17-4
6 U-Mary 13-8 13-8
7 Minnesota State-Mankato 13-8 11-8
8 Minnesota State-Moorhead 12-8 11-8
9 Minnesota-Duluth 13-8 13-8
10 St. Cloud State 11-9 11-9
National news
Augustana fell two spots to No. 25 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll released Tuesday. The Vikings earned 72 points in the rankings conducted by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Ausustana holds a 19-5 record and was ranked No. 23 last week. California-San Diego received all 32 first-place votes and 800 points to retain its top spot with a 26-0 record. Wayne State is the only other ranked conference opponent at No. 3. The Wildcats are 24-2 and received 711 points. Turn to page 8 to view the complete poll.
NSIC honors
Augustana has had one Viking win a weekly conference award twice this season.
Alex Feeney (Bismarck, N.D.) earned the honor on Jan 4 and Jan 16.
What the coaches say
Augustana was selected third in the 2011-12 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 25. The Vikings received four first-place votes and 148 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points
1 Wayne State (7) 162
2 Winona State (2) 152
3 Augustana (4) 148
4 MSU Moorhead (1) 122
5 Minnesota Duluth 114
6 Northern State 113
7 Concordia University-St. Paul 109
8 U-Mary 92
9 Minnesota State 71
10 St. Cloud State 62
11 Minnesota, Crookston 44
12 Southwest Minnesota State 39
13 Bemidji State 31
14 Upper Iowa 15
History lesson
Augustana enters its 39th season of women's basketball in 2011-12. The Vikings are 653-393 all-time and have racked up 30 winning seasons with 21 of them occurring under head coach
Dave Krauth.
