ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana outscored Webster 23-9 in the fourth quarter Saturday, pulling away for an 80-56 win at Carver Center. The Vikings won their third in a row to improve to 4-4 on the season, while the Gorloks dropped to 2-3.
 
Freshman Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) scored seven points as the hosts raced to a 17-4 lead and senior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) had consecutive layups to put Augustana on top 28-11 after one quarter.
 
Emily Ness' (Sandwich HS, Sandwich, Ill.) layup to start the second period gave the Vikings their biggest lead (30-11) of the first half. However, Augustana foul trouble and pressure defense from Webster enabled the Gorloks to fight their way back into it. Two Hannah Cottrell free throws and a Lauryn Freeman layup finished off an 11-3 run by the visitors that drew them to within 41-34 at the break.
 
Webster continued on its roll coming out of intermission. When Addison Beussink split two free throws with 7:27 left in the third, the Viking lead was just 43-39. A Justice Edell (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) layup seconds later though sparked a 9-0 run that senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) capped with a three-pointer to make it 52-39. The Gorloks got within nine (54-45) on a Naomi Johnson layup with 2:02 left in the quarter, but trailed 57-47 after three.
 
Jeni Crain (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.) and Jones each had two buckets as Augustana put up the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, extending the margin to its largest of the afternoon at 67-47. Webster whittled the deficit to 15 (67-52) on a Johnson trey with 4:03 to play, but the Vikings answered with eight straight points, including three-pointers from Lambert and Edell. The biggest lead of the day came at 80-55 on two Daina Riser (Lake Park HS, Medinah, Ill.) charity tosses before one of two by Gorlok Courtney Ragland accounted for the final.
 
Jones hit eight of 11 shots from the field on the way to a game-high 19 points. Her 13 rebounds and four assists were also game highs and her five steals trailed only Loiz's six. Loiz added 14 points and Crain 13. Beussink was the only Webster player to reach double digits, finishing with 11 points.
 
Coach Mark Beinborn's crew shot .509 from the field on 28 of 55. Augustana finished seven of 18 (.389) from three-point range and 17 of 26 (.654) from the free throw line. The Gorloks shot just .309 (17-55) from the floor and .250 (3-12) from three point range. They were 19 of 30 from the foul line for a .633 percentage. The Vikings outrebounded their guests by a 42-33 margin and forced 30 turnovers to help offset 28 of their own.
 
Augustana opens College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play this week, taking on defending champion Wheaton on the road. The Vikings and Thunder square off on Wednesday, December 4. Tipoff at King Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.