PELLA, Iowa. – Augustana used red-hot shooting by Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) and Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) to overcome a slow start and defeat Central 68-54 Saturday at

Kuyper Gymnasium. The Vikings improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Dutch fell to 2-2.
 
Six straight Kendall Brown points staked the hosts to an early 11-2 lead before Jones got going. The Augustana junior scored her team's next nine points as Coach Mark Beinborn's bunch cut the deficit to 14-11. Two Izzy Anderson (Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) free throws trimmed the margin to a point, but three-pointers by Jenna Clark and Emily Hay gave Central a 20-15 lead after one quarter.
 
Lambert's first of four three-pointers pulled the Vikings even at 20-all a minute into the second quarter, but Hay, Kristin Hubert and Clark each hit a trey as the Dutch went back up 29-22. Consecutive Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) layups eventually drew Augustana to within 29-28 and Lambert's second three gave Beinborn's crew its first lead at 31-29. It was one that wouldn't be relinquished. Scooter Lopez (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Ill.) added a three-pointer and a layup as the visitors extended their advantage to 38-32 at intermission.
 
Jones added six points and Lopez spearheaded the defense as the Vikings outscored their hosts 16-5 in the third quarter. Jones' layup with 1:14 left in the period put Augustana up 54-37 after three.
 
Twice in the fourth quarter the Vikings pushed the lead to 21 points—first (58-37) on a jumper by Anderson with 9:08 to play and again (63-42) on Lambert's final trey with 6:44 left. Clark had five points as Central closed the game on a 12-5 to cut the final margin to 14.
 
Jones led Augustana with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. She converted eight of nine field goal attempts and three of four from the foul line. Lambert (14 points) came off the bench to shoot 5-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Anderson (12 points) and Lopez (eight points) each equaled Jones' six rebounds and Roberts (six points) matched her game-high three steals.
 
Clark and Hubert led the Dutch with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Sami Craig grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Vikings connected on 25 of 52 (.481) field goal attempts, six of 17 (.353) from long range and 12 of 14 (.857) from the free throw line. They limited Central to .315 (17-54) shooting from the floor, including just five of 25 (.200) during the second and third quarters. The Dutch hit .333 (9-27) from three point range and .733 (11-15) from the charity stripe. Augustana won the rebound battle 36-31 and turned it over 21 times while forcing 22 Central miscues.
 
The Vikings will try and build on the momentum of Saturday's win when they travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday, November 20 to face Coe in a contest scheduled for 5:00 p.m.