ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – On a night where neither team was particularly sharp offensively, Augustana used a mammoth 50-35 rebounding advantage to help secure a 56-51 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin victory over Wheaton on Wednesday, January 16 in the Carver Center. The two teams combined to miss 79 shots but it was the relentless effort on the boards that allowed the Vikings to hand the visitors their first loss in league play.
 
The game was tied 28-28 at halftime and the Vikings took a 41-38 lead after three quarters thanks to a banked in three-point shot by senior Clare Kramer (Prophetstown HS, Lyndon, Ill.) that was longer than half-court.
 
The Vikings led by nine (47-38) when senior Scooter Lopez (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) drilled a three point field goal with 6:17 left in the game. The Thunder roared back and an 11-2 run resulted in a tie game at 49-49 with 1:30 to play when Hannah Frazier scored in the paint.
 
With the game tied Lopez put Augustana back on top (51-49) with a basket at the :50 mark. A steal by junior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) with :24 left put the Vikings in the driver's seat and at that point Wheaton had only committed one foul in the fourth quarter. The Thunder was forced to foul four straight times before senior Izzy Anderson (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.) went to the free throw line. She made both charity tosses to make it 53-49 with :20 left.
 
After a missed three point attempt by Wheaton, junior Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) hauled in the rebound and got the ball into Lopez' hands. Lopez made both free throws to push the lead to 55-49 with :12 remaining.
 
The Vikings fouled Frazier with just seven ticks left on the clock and she made both free throws to bring the margin to 55-51 but Lopez hit one of two free throws with :03 showing to account for the final score of 56-51.
 
Wheaton shot just .321 (17-53) from the floor and Augustana was no better at .317 (20-63). Wheaton was 7 of 27 (.259) from three point range and the Vikings were 7 of 21 (.333). With all those missed shots it was no surprise that rebounding was the key in this game and the Vikings owned the backboards.
 
Jones led the way with 15 rebounds, seven of those on the offensive end to lead the way while Roberts had seven and Anderson hauled in six. Augustana had 16 offensive rebounds in the game. Wheaton was led in rebounding by Devin Kyler with 13 but the Thunder only pulled in six offensive board.
 
Anderson topped the Vikings in scoring with 20 points while Lopez chipped in with 11. Junior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) scored eight points.
 
Frazier led Wheaton with 18 points but was limited to just eight shots as Roberts and senior Carly McCameron (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) continually denied her the ball.
 
Augustana is now 11-6 overall and 5-3 in the CCIW while the Thunder dropped to 13-4 and 7-1. The Vikings will be in action on Saturday, January 19 with a 5:00 p.m. tip-off against Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Illinois.