Box Score

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Using balanced scoring and another strong defensive performance Friday, Coach Mark Beinborn's Augustana basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season, defeating Concordia-Moorhead 62-58 at UC-Santa Cruz's West Field House. The Cobbers dropped to 1-2 on the year.
 
The Vikings grabbed their first lead of the night, 6-5, on a Kaycee Kallenberger (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) basket with 6:07 to play in the first quarter. Corrie Reiley's (Prophetstown HS, Prophetstown, Ill.) layup at the 3:49 mark capped an 9-0 Augustana run and gave her team an 11-5 advantage. The Vikings would maintain the six-point lead (20-14) after the first period.
 
Concordia regained the lead briefly midway through the second quarter. Crystal Amundson's layup put the Cobbers up 25-24, but senior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) answered 20 seconds later to give Augustana the lead for good. Beinborn's crew closed the half on another 9-0 run. Junior Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) beat the halftime buzzer with a three-pointer and the Vikings took a 33-25 advantage to the locker room.
 
Mayer scored to open the third quarter and the lead eventually reached 12 (44-32) on a Pezzopane trey at 5:33 of the period. However, the Cobbers responded with an 11-0 spurt fueled by Jenna Januschka, Greta Walsh and Olivia Johnson. A pair of Johnson free throws at 2:31 of the third drew Concordia within 44-43 and the game settled into a nip-and-tuck affair.
 
The margin bounced between one and five points the rest of the way, but Augustana never surrendered its lead. Reiley scored with 36 seconds left to put the Vikings ahead 60-55, but Johnson cut the Cobber deficit to two with a three-pointer with nine seconds to play. After a timeout, Concordia was forced to foul Reiley and the freshman knocked down both free throws to ice the win.
 
Reiley, Mayer and junior Mikayla Fallon (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) led Augustana with a dozen points apiece. Pezzopane chipped in with 11 and Kallenberger eight. The Vikings shot .421 (24 of 57) from the floor, including .375 (three of eight) from beyond the arc. They drilled 11 of 12 (.917) free throws as well and controlled the glass, with Kallenberger (seven rebounds), Pezzopane and senior Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) (six each) leading the way. Fallon dished out a game-high three assists.
 
Defensively, Augustana limited Concordia to .322 shooting (19 of 59) from the field and just five of 20 (.250) from long range. Kallenberger blocked three shots and Reiley and junior Jen VanWatermeulen (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) each had two of the Vikings' seven steals. Augustana forced 19 turnovers which led to 23 points.
 
On Sunday, November 22, the Vikings will take on UC-Santa Cruz at the Kaiser Permanente Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST.