SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-3, 1-1 NSIC) fell to Augustana (7-1, 2-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon by a score of 76-69. The Vikings held the Golden Bears scoreless over the final 2:29 to claim the win.
After leading by as many as 11 in the first half, Concordia saw Augie build a double digit lead of their own in the second half before evening it up late, but a dry spell in the closing minutes proved to be the difference in a back-and-forth game. It was a tale of two halves for the Golden Bears as they connected on an impressive 56.7% (17-30) from the floor in the first half before shooting just 29.0% (9-31) after the break. The Vikings put up nearly equal percentages in each half as they hit 38.5% (15-39) in the first half and 35.1% (13-37) in the second half.
The Golden Bears continued their trend of leading in points in the paint (42-32), bench points (22-13) and fast break points (20-15), but it wasn't enough as Augie put the defensive clamps on in the second half. Rebounding favored the Vikings as they held a 44-41 advantage in the game and an important 15-9 advantage on the offensive glass, leading to a 17-11 advantage in second chance points.
Lauren Shifflett extended her streak to six straight games scoring in double figures as she paced the team with 15 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Also keeping up her recent scoring prowess,
Kionda Nicks scored in double figures for the second night in a row and fourth time in six games as she finished with 12 points, seven boards and a pair of assists.
Mishayla Jones joined those two in double figures with 14 points as she added four assists, three rebounds and two steals while
Kyrah Fredenburg once again paced the squad with 12 boards to go along with three points before fouling out.
Logan O'Farrell was a difference maker for the Vikings as she was nearly unstoppable with 29 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three assists as she connected on 8-14 from the floor, 3-7 from three and 10-14 from the free throw line in what was a huge night.
After the two teams traded buckets early, the Golden Bears took control with six points in a row to go up 14-9 to set the tone for the first half. Augie seemed to recover over the next few minutes as they cut the deficit to two, but Concordia once again surged with a 7-0 run to close the period with a 23-14 lead and carry momentum into the second.
CSP pushed their lead to double digits to kick off the second quarter and continued to hold a comfortable advantage throughout much of the rest of the quarter until the Vikings turned the tide in their favor. Concordia remained out front 37-27 with 3:29 left in the half before a 7-0 run for Augustana quickly shrunk it to three. The Vikings closed the gap even further before the horn as they went into the locker room down 41-39.
Augustana picked up where they left off in the third quarter as a three to open the half put them out front for the first time since the first quarter. CSP regained the lead with a bucket before Augie went on a run to take their largest lead of the day. The Vikings eventually went ahead by eight at 56-48 six minutes in and pushed their lead to double figures at 63-53 with 1:37 left in the third.
Concordia responded with a run of their own as they rattled off 10 straight to even the score at 63 with 6:29 to play. The Golden Bears remained within striking distance throughout the fourth as the score was even as late as 2:59 at 69-69 but CSP went cold down the stretch as they didn't score the rest of the way as Augie rolled to a 76-69 win.
CSP returns home next weekend as they play host to #10 Winona State and Upper Iowa for their NSIC home opening weekend.
