ELMHURST, Ill. – A night of perfection from junior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) helped lift Augustana to a 70-64 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin road victory at Elmhurst on Wednesday, January 2. It was the fifth straight victory for Head Coach Mark Beinborn's team and it helped lift the Blue & Gold to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW.
 
Jones did not miss a shot the entire night as she dropped in 26 points with a 10 for 10 performance from the field, including two of two from three-point range, and four of four from the free throw line. In the fourth quarter she was especially effective as the Vikings were tied 48-48 entering the stanza.
 
Jones took over in the final period as she scored 12 of her game high 26 points, including both of her three point field goals.
 
With the score knotted at 48, the home standing Bluejays missed a shot to open the period and senior Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) hauled in the rebound and Jones converted on her first three point field goal of the game thanks to an assist by senior Izzy Anderson (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.).  That made the score 51-48 in favor of the Vikings and Jones scored a layup, Anderson hit a basket and Jones drilled her second three pointer of the game and with 7:05 left to play Augustana led 58-50.
 
Elmhurst fought back, however, and a basket by Lisa Logan with 2:44 remaining cut the Vikings lead to just a single digit (60-59).
 
Clinging to a one point lead, the Vikings scored the final 10 points of the game from the free throw line. Junior Jeni Crain (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.) hit one to make it 61-59 with 2:27 left and then senior Scooter Lopez (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) drilled a pair at 1:25 to bump the margin to 63-59.
 
Elmhurst missed a pair of shots and Jones collared the defensive rebound and got the ball to senior Clare Kramer (Prophetstown HS, Lyndon, Ill.) and her two charity tosses at :39 made it 65-59 in favor of Augustana.
 
After Kelly Weyhrich of Elmhurst nailed a three pointer at :35 to make it 65-62, Crain made one of two free throws to push the margin to four (66-62) with :24 left. A steal by Lopez resulted in Jones going back to the free throw line with :13 to play and her two freebies put the advantage at 68-62.
 
Logan's layup with :09 left allowed Elmhurst to cut it to 68-64 but Anderson hit a pair of free throws with just four ticks left on the clock to seal the victory.
 
The Vikings got the 26 points from Jones, who also had four assists and a steal, but Crain (10) and Anderson (10) were also in double figures. As a team Augustana shot .488 (20-41) from the field and .758 (25-33) from the free throw line.
 
Roberts and Jones tied for the rebounding lead for Augustana as each had eight while Anderson pulled down seven.
 
Elmhurst had four players in double figures with Logan and Courtney O'Donnell leading the way with 13 points apiece. Marisso Urso had 12 points and Lauren Goff dropped in 11.
 
Augustana will now take its five game winning streak to Chicago on Saturday, January 5 for a 5:00 p.m. battle with CCIW foe North Park.