ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (5-3, 1-1 NSIC) pulled out a thrilling 78-77 win over Augustana (6-4, 0-3 NSIC) on Saturday night at the Gangelhoff Center. Lauren Shifflett gave the Golden Bears the decisive advantage with a tough rebound and a free throw with 10 seconds to play in the game.
 
Shifflett was tremendous off the bench with a career high 15 points and five rebounds on 4-6 from beyond the arc, including several clutch shots late, and 3-4 from the free throw line.
 
Voneisha Harris also exploded for a career best 16 points as she hit 6-8 from the floor and both of her attempts from three. She also added five rebounds and three assists as well as a block and a steal in the win.
 
Anika Whiting delivered her second consecutive double-double and third of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds as she connected on 7-16 shooting.


CU Women's BB vs. Augustana 12.6.2014 - Images by Justin Oakman

The Golden Bears held high-scoring guard Shaunteva Ashley to just 3-10 from the floor but she got to the free throw line 17 times, making 13 of them, to finish with a game-high 19 points as she added six boards and four assists for the Vikings.
 
Sophie Kenney chipped in 11 points and Paige Peterson put up 10 points and eight rebounds for Augustana.
 
Both teams shot better from the floor in the second half as the Vikings finished shooting 42.6% from the floor (50.0%  after the break) and the Golden Bears finished at 39.2% (44.4% after the break). CU forced 20 Augie turnovers while turning it out 12 times and collected 22 assists compared to 13 for the Vikings.
 
The Golden Bears came out firing as they quickly built an 11-2 advantage at the 16:14 mark. Concordia continued to maintain a comfortable lead for much of the half and eventually pushed it to double digits at 27-16 as Harris laid it in with 7:16 to go in the half. Augie used a 16-3 run to tie it up at 30 with 2:18 to go and the two teams traded buckets down the stretch to make it 35-35 heading into half.
 
Concordia opened the second half on an 8-2 run capped by an Amanda Barton three to give CU a six point lead but Augustana quickly bounced back and took a lead of their own. Jones sparked a 15-2 run for the Golden Bears to give them the lead back at 61-50 with 11:43 remaining and the lead reached as large as 12 at 66-54 as CU appeared poised to run away with it.
 
The Vikings had other plans as they tied it up with a 12-0 run spanning nearly four minutes. Shifflett gave the Golden Bears the lead back with a three as CU built the lead back up to six at 73-67 with less than four minutes to play. Concordia remained in the lead until a pair of Peterson free throws with 1:46 left tied it at 75. Peterson hit two more for Augie to give them a 77-75 advantage with just 1:16 to go. Jones tied it up with a clutch drive to the hoop with 54 seconds left which set the stage for a stop and a foul which sent Shifflett to the line. She hit 1-2 with 10 seconds to go which left Augie with a chance to win but Caitlyn Russell blocked Peterson's layup as time expired.
 
Concordia travels to Winona State and Upper Iowa next weekend as they continue NSIC action.