Box Score

MEQUON, Wis. – Augustana held a lead midway through the second half Saturday in its season-opener at Concordia, but couldn't quite hang on, falling to the Falcons 61-54 at R. John Buuck Field House. The Vikings will try to even their record on Wednesday, November 19, when they host Coe at Carver Center for a 7:30 p.m. game.
 
After trailing 30-25 at the half, Coach Mark Beinborn's club used a 17-2 run early in the second stanza to wipe out its largest deficit of the contest and take its biggest lead. A three-pointer by Madelyn Landgraf put Concordia up 33-25, equaling the Falcons' biggest lead of the night. Augustana junior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) answered with a trey of her own to spark the Vikings. Junior Maddie Kerr (St. Edwards HS, Streamwood, Ill.) and sophomore Jen VanWatermeulen (United Township HS, Silvis, Ill.) added three-pointers and Pezzopane totaled seven points in the run. When it was over, the visitors had their biggest lead of the night at 42-35 with 13:09 to play.
 
However, the hosts whittled away and Karena Monson's three at the 9:31 mark gave the Falcons back the lead at 46-44. Augustana tied it two more times, the last at 52-all on an Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) layup with 4:39 left, but another Landgraf trey put the hosts on top for good. Landgraf, the game's leading scorer with 19 points, also hit three of four free throws in the last half minute as Concordia held on.
 
The hosts led the entire first half behind 10 Landgraf points.
 
Pezzopane led the Vikings with 16 points, two blocked shots and three steals. Her eight rebounds trailed only junior Andrea McNally's (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) nine. Mayer added a dozen points on 6-of-9 field goal shooting and VanWatermeulen matched that, hitting three of six from beyond the arc. Senior co-captain Valerie Van Roeyen (Libertyville HS, Grayslake, Ill.) had a game-high five assists, one more than Mayer.
 
Augustana shot 20 of 59 (.339) from the floor, but hit six of 18 (.333) three-point attempts and eight of 10 (.800) at the foul line. Concordia was 22 of 56 (.393) from the field, six of 17 (.353) from long range and 11 of 20 (.550) at the line. The Falcons held a 39-38 advantage on the boards and turned it over 16 times to 17 for the Vikings.