ELMHURST, Ill. – An explosive second quarter proved to be all the spark Augustana needed as the Vikings rolled to a 75-56 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin win over Elmhurst on Wednesday, January 29 at R.A. Faganel Hall on the campus of Elmhurst College. Head coach Mark Beinborn's team broke open a tie game after one period with a 25-12 advantage in the second set of 10 minute quarters.
 
With the game tied 18-18 after the first quarter the Vikings quickly fell behind 21-18 as Elmhurst's Becca Gerke scored on a conventional three point play in the first :12 of the second quarter. Senior Jeni Crain (Woodstock HS, Woodstock, Ill.) hit two free throws with 7:14 left to bring the margin to just one (21-20) and then sophomore Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) nailed a three point field goal at 7:02 to give the Vikings a 23-21 lead.
 
They would never relinquish the lead and the free throws by Crain and the triple from Hall ignited a 22-5 run that ended when senior Maddy Murillo (Antioch HS, Antioch, Ill.) hit a basket in the paint with 2:15 left before halftime to push the advantage to 40-26.
 
During the game deciding run, senior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) hit a pair of baskets, senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) drilled two threes and a two point field goal and Hall hit a three. Eventually the Vikings carried a 43-30 lead into the halftime at intermission.
 
The onslaught continued for Augustana in the third quarter as a 13-5 run over the first 6:31 bumped the margin to 21 points (56-35). Jones started things off with a conventional three point play at 8:56. Freshman Gabriela Loiz (Alleman Catholic HS, Davenport, Iowa) had a pair of free throws, sophomore Daina Riser (Lake Park HS, Medinah, Ill.) hit a basket and freshman Macy Beinborn (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) and Lambert each had three point field goals to finish the run.
 
Augustana led by 18 (58-40) at the end of three quarters and the biggest margin in the game came when Hall hit a three point field goal with 4:58 left to make it 75-49. The final ended 75-56 as the Bluejays scored the final seven points of the contest.
 
Hall led the Vikings in scoring with 18 points as she made six of 11 from the floor, including five of seven from three-point range. She also managed three rebounds and two assists. Lambert scored 13 points win five of eight from the field and three of four from three-point range. Jones dropped in 11 points and came up with a game-high 10 rebounds and she had five assists as well. Riser and Beinborn each had eight points while Loiz scored seven and Murillo six.
 
Becca Gerke led Elmhurst in scoring with 15 points.
 
Augustana owned a 39-33 advantage on the backboards and the Vikings shot .593 (16-27) from the floor in the first half to build the big lead. They were eight of 12 (.667) from three point range and had assists on 19 of 25 baskets for the game.
 
Beinborn's bunch moved to 10-9 on the season and 5-5 in the CCIW while Elmhurst fell to 7-12 and 2-8. Augustana will host Millikin on Saturday, February 1 at 5:00 p.m. in the Carver Center.