Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A furious fourth quarter comeback, fueled by freshman reserve Izzy Anderson (Rock Island Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) propelled Augustana to a 59-56 win over Wheaton on Saturday, January 2 in the Carver Center. The win, which came after the Vikings trailed 48-37 heading into the final stanza, was the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin opener and it was at the expense of the eighth ranked team in NCAA Division III.
 
Anderson, who came into the game with a grand total of just 56 minutes of playing time through the first 11 games, logged 19 on Saturday night and made several key plays in the final 1:13 of the game. Augustana trailed 56-55 after junior Olivia Mayer (Libertyville HS, Green Oaks, Ill.) hit one of two free throws with 1:40 to play. Wheaton's Kelly Lawson missed a shot with 1:13 on the clock and shot-clock winding down. Anderson hauled in the rebound and with just :51 left she nailed a basket to put the Vikings ahead for the first time in the game, 57-56.
 
Lawson, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder, then missed a shot with :26 left and Anderson was there again to pull down the rebound. She was fouled and drilled both free throws at :19 to put Augustana ahead by three (59-56). That would be the final score as Wheaton missed two free throws and a three pointer at the buzzer in the final 13 seconds.
 
The Thunder, which was 8-2 coming into the game, jumped out to an 18-7 lead after one period and held a 29-20 advantage at halftime. Neither team shot it very well in the first half with Augustana making just .250 (7-28) from the field and Wheaton hitting at a .289 (11-38) clip. Wheaton led by as many as 14 points on four different occasions in the third quarter, the last coming with 1:58 left on a basket by Hannah Considine. The Vikings got a free throw by Anderson at 1:48 and a basket by sophomore Victoria Allen (Eureka HS, Wildwood, Mo.) at 1:11 to trim things to 11 (46-35). Sarah Drury scored to put the Thunder back in front 48-35 with :48 remaining but a basket by freshman Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) at :28 made it an 11 point deficit (48-37) heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Wheaton maintained the double digit lead until just 5:30 remained in the game when senior Marissa Pezzopane (Addison Trail HS, Wood Dale, Ill.) scored to cut the margin to eight (52-44). Mayer followed with a basket at 5:02 to make it a six point game (52-46).
 
Considine scored on an offensive rebound at 4:29 to put the Thunder back in front by eight (54-46) but freshman Carly McCameron (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) answered with a basket off a nice feed from Jennifer VanWatermeulen (United Township HS, Silvis, Ill.) to make it 54-48 with 4:04 left. Mayer drilled a three at 3:33 to trim the margin to three (54-51) and VanWatermeulen hit a three pointer at 2:17 to tie the score at 54-54. Berg's basket at 1:59 put Wheaton back in front 56-54 with 1:59 and that was the last Thunder point of the evening.
 
Pezzopane led the way for Augustana with 14 points while Allen was also in double figures with 12. Although the Vikings lost the rebounding battle by a 49-39 margin, McCameron and senior Andrea McNally (Hinsdale South HS, Burr Ridge, Ill.) each had six.
 
Wheaton got 16 points from Katie McDaniels and 11 from Kelly Lawson, who also had nine rebounds. The Thunder shot just .111 (2-18) from three point range.
 
Augustana, which is now 6-6 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW, will host Elmhurst on Wednesday, January 6 at 7:00 p.m. in the Carver Center.