Box Score
DUBUQUE, Iowa – Senior front-liners Chaney Tambling (Dwight HS, Dwight, Ill.) and Jessica Baids (West Chicago HS, Carol Stream, Ill.) each scored 14 points and classmate Molly Etheridge (Normal Community HS, Bloomington, Ill.) knocked down seven of eight free throws in the final 43 seconds Tuesday to lead Augustana to a 63-54 win at Dubuque. Coach Mark Beinborn's Vikings improve to 3-5 on the season while the host Spartans fall to 3-3.
 
A Baids layup at the nine-minute mark matched Augustana's biggest lead of the night at 12 (44-32), but Dubuque answered with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to deadlock the contest at 46-all on a bucket by Daneshia Snitker. Viking freshman Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) scored twice and Etheridge once to give Augustana a 52-48 lead with just under two minutes to play.
 
After the Spartans' Maggie Schmidt split a pair of free throws, Tambling converted a pair with 51 seconds left to put the Vikings up 54-49. From there, Etheridge went 7-of-8 and from the stripe and another senior, Amy Hicks (Rockford Christian HS, Rockford, Ill.), converted two, as Augustana pulled away for the nine-point win.
 
Baids scored Augustana's first three baskets and the visitors took an 8-2 lead two and a half minutes in. A Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) bucket at 15:07 matched the Vikings' biggest lead of the first half at 10-4. Dubuque scored six straight to tie it at 10-all and the game settled into a nip-and-tuck affair with the Spartans eventually taking a 25-22 advantage to the locker room.
 
A pair of Hicks free throws with 15:26 remaining in the game started 13-0 Augustana run that took the visitors from down 29-28 to up 41-29 with 10:52 left. Five Vikings scored during the spurt, including a pair of baskets by Tambling and a three-pointer from sophomore Maddie Kerr (St. Edward HS, Streamwood, Ill.).
 
Tambling and Baids also led Augustana on the glass, grabbing 10 and eight rebounds, respectively. Etheridge joined the pair in double figures with 10 points. She and Hicks also tied for team-high honors with four assists and three steals each.
 
The Vikings ended up 21 of 54 (.389) from the floor and one of nine (.111) from beyond the arc, but made up for it with a 20-of-24 (.833) performance from the free throw line. Defensively, they limited the Spartans to just .239 shooting from the floor on 17 field goals in 71 attempts.
 
Beinborn's squad is back in action on Saturday, December 14, hosting Central in a 2:00 p.m. contest at Carver Center.