ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana bounced back from Friday's tough loss with a 59-58 win over Luther Saturday in the third-place game of the Hyatt Place Tournament at Carver Center. Coach Mark Beinborn's club evened its record at 1-1, while the visiting Norse fell to 0-2.
 
A three-pointer by Luther's Sarah Holtz with 3:01 to play deadlocked the contest for the 13th time at 56-all. Junior Justice Edell (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) then fed senior Maddy Murillo (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) for a conventional three-point play that gave the Vikings a 59-56 advantage with 2:28 remaining. Two free throws by the Norse's Madilyn Heinke drew her team to within 59-58 and set up an exciting, although scoreless, final minute and a half.
 
After an empty trip for Augustana, Luther missed a three-pointer and a put-back attempt before senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) secured the defensive rebound with 15 seconds left. With the shot clock off, Luther didn't foul and freshman Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) eventually found herself with a point-blank look. Loiz's shot rolled off the rim and Heinke grabbed the rebound before being fouled with 4.7 seconds on the clock. Not yet in the bonus, the Norse called timeout and advanced the ball to the frontcourt, but their final play was well-defended by the Vikings and Coranda Vickerman's three-point try was well off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
 
The contest was tight the entire way, with the margin never exceeding seven points. Edell's trey at the three-minute mark of the first quarter gave Augustana an 11-8 edge and, with the exception of a 17-all tie, the Vikings would lead for the next 20 minutes of game time. Their advantage reached seven (17-10) late in the first quarter on a pair of Olivia Hagerty (Guilford HS, Rockford, Ill.) free throws and again midway through the second quarter when an Edell three-pointer made it 28-21. Beinborn's bunch led 17-12 at the quarter break and 28-27 at the half.
 
Late in the third, Luther's Laura Hamilton drained two charity tosses to tie the contest at 39-all and she split a pair of freebies seconds later to give her team its first lead (40-39) since 3:19 of the first quarter. There would be five lead changes and seven more ties the rest of the way. Augustana took a 45-42 lead to the fourth quarter.
 
Edell finished with team highs of 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Senior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) added 14 points, six boards, three assists and three steals and sophomore Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) matched Edell's seven rebounds.
 
Holtz and Madison Spence led the Norse with 14 points apiece and Spence grabbed a game-high 10 boards.
 
The Vikings finished the night 21 of 62 (.339) from the floor, eight of 21 (.381) from three-point range and nine of 15 (.600) at the foul line. They committed 19 turnovers and outrebounded Luther 46-42.
 
The Norse shot .333 from the floor, hitting 22 of 66. They converted just .150 (3-20) from beyond the arc and were 11 of 14 (.786) from the free throw line. Luther turned it over 13 times.
 
On Friday, November 15, the Augustana will be in action against Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the opening round of the Loras College Tip-Off. The Vikings and Titans square off at 2:00 p.m.