Box Score
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – For the second straight night, Augustana couldn't overcome poor shooting as UC-Santa Cruz erased an early deficit and defeated the Vikings 73-59 in the consolation game of Washington University's McWilliams Classic. Coach Mark Beinborn's club falls to 2-5 on the year, while the Banana Slugs improve to 5-4.
 
Senior Molly Etheridge (Normal Community HS, Bloomington, Ill.) scored Augustana's first five points and classmate Chaney Tambling (Dwight HS, Dwight, Ill.) added the next four as the Vikings jumped out to a 9-3 lead two and a half minutes in. The lead was still 15-10 after a Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) layup at the 11:23 mark of the first half. However, back-to-back three-pointers by Ryane Ortiz and Leah Parrish gave the Slugs their first lead of the night and they wouldn't trail again.
 
An Ortiz layup with 1:13 before intermission gave Santa Cruz its biggest first-half lead at 34-26, but Augustana sophomore Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) converted one of two free throw with a minute left and the Vikings went to the locker room trailing 34-27.
 
Senior Amy Hicks (Rockford Christian HS, Rockford, Ill.) cut the deficit to four twice early in the second half. Her trey with 16 and a half minutes left got the Vikings to within 38-34 and two minutes later she hit a pair of free throws to make it 40-36.
 
With 11:47 remaining, junior Meagan Murphy (Marian Central Catholic HS, Johnsburg, Ill.) scored to make it 47-44. That was as close as Augustana had been since late in the first half, but three more Ortiz threes sparked a 15-1 Santa Cruz run and the Vikings would never get the deficit under double digits again.
 
Etheridge and Tambling were in double figures for Beinborn with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Hicks added nine and Murphy eight. Tambling grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Etheridge and Hicks shared the team lead with three assists apiece. Augustana shot just .351 from the field and hit only one of 10 three-point attempts.
 
Parrish had game highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Slugs. Ortiz came off the bench to contribute 18 points and Sarah Mackey added 16 to go along with five blocked shots. Sara Crane snared a dozen boards and had a game-high five assists.
 
The Vikings are back in action on Tuesday, December 10, taking on the Dubuque Spartans in Dubuque, Iowa. Opening tip is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.