ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – On "Senior Night" in the Carver Center it was the production of a junior that led Augustana to a 62-53 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin victory over Millikin on Saturday, February 9 in the Carver Center. Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) dropped in 22 points and hauled down nine rebounds as the Vikings moved to 13-11 overall and 7-8 in the CCIW.
 
The Vikings broke away from the Big Blue with a convincing run in the third quarter to snap a two game losing streak and moved one step closer to clinching a home game in the opening round of the CCIW Tournament, which would begin on Tuesday, February 19. As of tonight Augustana is in fourth place and would host the fifth place team in a play-in round.
 
Augustana was clinging to a 28-26 halftime lead when Jones scored twice in the opening minutes of the third quarter and senior Izzy Anderson (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.) tallied on a fast break layup. The Vikings used that 6-2 run to build a 34-28 lead and they never relinquished it. Eventually the margin would grow to nine points on two separate occasions. The first was when Jones drilled a pair of free throws with 1:16 left and the last when senior Clare Kramer (Prophetstown HS, Lyndon, Ill.) beat the buzzer with a rebound bucket to give the home team a 50-41 lead heading into the fourth.
 
In the fourth quarter the Viking defense limited Millikin to just four field goals on 13 attempts (.308) and no three point field goals on four tries. Senior Sadie Roberts (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) hit one free throw with 8:51 left to make the margin double digits (51-41) and Jones nailed two free throws at 7:23 to up the ante to 53-41.
 
Millikin cut the margin to seven three times but the first two times it happened Jones hit two free throws each to bump the margin to nine and the third time it was Roberts with a field goal with 1:26 left to make it nine. Jones hit a layup with :50 remaining to put it at 11 (62-51) and seal the win for head coach Mark Beinborn's charges.
 
Jones was good on seven of 10 field goals and all eight of her free throws. She also had two assists, one steal and one blocked shot to go along with nine rebounds. Senior point guard Scooter Lopez (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was also in double digits with 12 points, including two huge threes that came back-to-back in the second quarter.
 
Freshman Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) led the team in rebounding with 10 while Kramer hauled in nine as the Vikings carved a 46-41 advantage in that department. Hall also had three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
 
Jordan Hildebrand led Millikin in scoring with 28 points and she also had 10 rebounds.
 
It was the final regular season home game for six Augustana seniors. Anderson, Lopez, Roberts, Kramer, Hannah Durbin (Springfield HS, Springfield, Ore.) and Carly McCameron (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) ended their regular season with a home-court victory.
 
The Vikings will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, February 16 for a 5:00 p.m. battle with Carthage.