Box Score BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Augustana battled Illinois Wesleyan in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin women's basketball matchup on Wednesday, January 8 before falling 78-68 in Bloomington, Illinois. The Vikings led by as many as 10 points early in the contest, trailed by as many 17 in the second half and eventually battled back to close it to within six before finally losing by 10.
 
Augustana broke out to a 14-4 lead after a basket by sophomore Natalie Tomerlin (Hinsdale South HS, Darien, Ill.) with 13:30 left to play in the first half. Over the next 13 minutes, however, the Titans outscored the Vikings 35-8 to take a 39-22 lead into intermission.
 
Down by 17, Augustana went on a 12-2 run to start the second half and when senior Molly Etheridge (Normal Community HS, Bloomington, Ill.) drained a three point field goal at 17:00, the lead was down to seven (41-34). The Vikings kept hanging around and when sophomore Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) scored a layup at 11:19, the margin was just six points (51-45).
 
With 7:57 left to play, Pezzopane converted on a conventional three-point play and the lead was still six (56-50) but three turnovers over the next two minutes hampered the comeback.
 
Pezzopane was a force for Augustana as she scored 20 points on nine of 13 from the floor and two of three from the free throw line. She also hauled in 15 rebounds and had two blocked shots. Etheridge scored 18 points on seven of 12 from the field, including a pair of three pointers, with two of two from the free throw line. She grabbed six rebounds, had seven assists and recorded two steals. Senior Amy Hicks (Rockford Christian HS, Rockford, Ill.) was also in double figures with 12 points and she collected five rebounds with two assists and a steal.
 
Freshman Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) led Augustana in assists with six.
 
The Vikings shot .527 (29-55) from the floor, including a sizzling .667 (20-30) in the second half. However, they only made five of 16 free throws in the final 20 minutes of play and that proved costly.
 
Illinois Wesleyan got 21 points and nine rebounds from Lexi Baltes and 19 points and three steals from Colleen McMahon. The two teams were almost even in rebounding with the Titans holding a 38-37 advantage but Augustana was hampered by 29 turnovers.
 
Augustana fell to 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the CCIW while Illinois Wesleyan moved to 8-5 and 2-0. The Vikings will play at Wheaton on Saturday, January 11 at 5:00 p.m.