Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. –  After leading by just two points at halftime, Augustana outscored Centre 43-22 in the second half Saturday, pulling away for a 72-49 win at the Bancorp South Holiday Classic hosted by Rhodes College. Coach Mark Beinborn's Vikings improve to 5-4 on the year, while the Colonels drop to 3-5.
 
It was Centre that jumped out in front early, getting six points each from Alexis Guy and Olivia Colliver to lead 16-8 after 10½ minutes. Augustana answered with an 11-2 run to take just its second lead of the night at 19-18. Senior Valerie VanRoeyen (Libertyville HS, Grayslake, Ill.) had four points in the spurt and sophomore Jen VanWatermeulen (United Township HS, Silvis, Ill.) scored five, including a three-pointer that put Augustana ahead.
 
Caroline Andreassen drained a trey with 4:02 to play in the half to briefly regain a 21-19 lead for the Colonels, but VanRoeyen answered with one of her own at the 3:12 mark and the Vikings wouldn't trail again. Another VanRoeyen three gave Augustana a 29-24 lead with less than a minute to play, but Guy's three-pointer cut it to 29-27 at the break.
 
The second stanza was all Vikings, as Beiborn's crew scored the first six points of the period to go up by eight. Another VanRoeyen three gave Augustana its first double-digit lead, 41-31 with 13:45 to play and junior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) followed with a layup to make the lead an even dozen. Centre responded with a 7-1 run to get within six at 44-38, but a 15-3 Viking spree that followed put things away. Freshman Victoria Allen (Eureka HS, Wildwood, Mo.) scored eight of the 15, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
VanRoeyen's fourth trey of the afternoon with 2:40 left made it 66-47 Augustana. Beinborn cleared his bench shortly after and his squad scored the final six points of the game. A three-pointer by freshman Cassidy Rice (Ottawa HS, Ottawa, Ill.) with a minute left accounted for the final.
 
VanRoeyen led the Vikings with 18 points of 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including four of six from behind the arc. Allen added 11, hitting all three of her trey attempts, and Pezzopane had 10 points and eight rebounds. Junior Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds and sophomore point guard Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) had a game-high six assists with just one turnover.
 
As a team, Augustana hit 24 of 51 (.471) shots from the floor, including 12 of 27 (.444) from long range. The Vikings also converted 12 of 16 (.750) free throw attempts, outrebounded the much taller Colonels 43-29 and limited them to .339 (20 of 59) shooting from the field.
 
Next up is a road date at Loras on Monday, December 29, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.