WHEATON, Ill. – Augustana drilled a school-record 14 three-point field goals, including nine in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings' rally from a 22-point deficit to Wheaton Wednesday came up just short. Coach Mark Beinborn's squad fell 84-80 to the 21st-ranked Thunder at King Arena. Augustana moved to 4-5 on the season and 0-1 in the CCIW, while Wheaton improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in the league.
 
The Vikings had whittled a 55-33 third-quarter deficit to 60-44 by the end of the period and continued their comeback in the fourth quarter. The Thunder still led by 15 (68-53) with 6:53 to play, but a Macy Beinborn (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) trey, a layup by Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) and a triple by Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) sliced the Wheaton lead to 68-61 at the four-minute mark.
 
Hannah Swider pushed the margin back to double digits with a three-pointer, but Augustana kept coming. Two more Beinborn threes pulled the Vikings to within 73-69 with 2:30 to play. Senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) hit from long range to make it 77-74 at the one-minute mark before Wheaton answered with a field goal and one of two free throws. Jones buried a three with 17 seconds left to make it 80-77 Thunder, but a pair of Hannah Frazier free throws two seconds later made it a two-possession game. Wheaton's Hannah Williams added a pair of charity tosses before another Jones trey accounted for the final.
 
The Thunder hit four of their school-record 15 treys on their first four possessions of the game. Frazier's triple 2½ minutes in gave the hosts a 12-0 lead. A pair of Justice Edell (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) free throws got the Vikings on the board, but by the end of the first quarter, Wheaton had maintained its 12-point advantage (21-9).
 
A Hannah Swider three-pointer with 7:43 left in the half extended the lead to 32-16, but Lambert and Jones each scored three points in an 8-0 Augustana run that trimmed the deficit to 33-25. After Bonnie Zeller hit a trey for the Thunder, Jones scored in the lane to send the Vikings to halftime trailing 36-27.
 
Wheaton used a 14-2 spurt in the third quarter to push its lead to 55-33—the largest of the night. Freshman Gabriela Loiz (Alleman HS, Davenport, Iowa) drained a three and Hall added a trey and a conventional field goal before an old-fashioned three-point play by Jones got the visitors to within 14 (58-44). A pair of free throws by Jacqueline San Jule put the Thunder up 60-44 going to the fourth quarter.
 
As usual, Jones stuffed the stat sheet. She finished with game highs of 25 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, along with four assists and a blocked shot. She shot nine of 17 from the field, including two of three from beyond the arc. Hall (3-4 3p) added 14 points and Lambert (4-5 3p) and Beinborn (4-6 3p) a dozen each. Edell and Loiz each grabbed six rebounds.
 
Frazier led four Wheaton players in double figures with 17 points and Jordan Myroth contributed seven points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots.
 
Augustana shot .433 from the floor on 26 of 60, but hit 14 of 22 (.636) attempts from three-point range. The Vikings were 14 of 21 (.667) at the foul line and committed a season-low six turnovers. Wheaton shot .500 from the field (26-54) and three-point range (15-30) and converted 15 of 17 (.882) free throws. The Thunder won the battle of the boards 33-31 and turned it over 13 times.
 
Augustana is back in action at Carver Center on Saturday, December 7, hosting Carroll, with tipoff scheduled for 5:00 p.m.