Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Leading just 52-48 going to the fourth quarter Saturday, Augustana outscored Central 29-7 in the final period to pull away to an 81-55 win at Carver Center. Senior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) and junior Mikayla Fallon (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) led the 5-3 Vikings with respective career highs of 31 and 28 points. The visiting Dutch dropped to 1-6 on the season.
 
Augustana jumped on top 7-0 four minutes in behind five points from Pezzopane. A 21-12 lead at the first break grew to 25-12 early in the second quarter on a basket by sophomore Victoria Allen (Eureka HS, Wildwood, Mo.). However, Central closed the half on a 17-8 run. Claire Marburger's three-pointer with seven seconds left cut the Viking lead to 33-29 at halftime.
 
The third quarter played out much like the second, with Augustana pushing the lead back to double digits (41-30) on a Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) three from the left corner at the 7:01 mark. Once again, the Dutch refused to go away. Kaitlyn Johnson's trey with a minute left in the quarter capped a 20-9 run that drew her team within 50-48. A Fallon bucket—her 11th and 12th points of the period—put the Vikings ahead 52-48 after three.
 
Fallon and Pezzopane combined for 21 points in a 23-2 Augustana run to open the final period. Coach Mark Beinborn cleared his bench with two and a half minutes to play as the Vikings were finally able to put Central away.
 
In addition to her 31 points, Pezzopane added game highs of 12 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Fallon put together an outstanding line that included five rebounds, four assists, four steals and no turnovers. Her 28 points came on 10-of-14 shooting from the field—including three of five from beyond the arc—and five of five from the foul line. Junior point guard Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) dished out a game-high eight assists.
 
Augustana hit 30 of 65 attempts from the field, setting a season high in field goal percentage (.462) for the second straight game. The Vikings were five of 13 (.385) from three-point range and 16 of 23 (.696) from the free throw line. Central shot .333 from the floor on 19 of 57 attempts—becoming the sixth Augustana opponent in eight outings that has failed to make more than a third of its shots. The Dutch were nine of 24 (.375) from long range and eight of 13 from the foul line. The Vikings dominated the boards by a 47-32 margin and committed just 10 turnovers, to 13 for Central.
 
Beinborn's crew will try an extend its current winning streak to three games on December 20, traveling to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to take on Coe in a 3:00 p.m. tilt.