ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana closed out Wednesday's College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin women's basketball battle against Elmhurst with an 11-2 run to defeat the Bluejays 63-58 in the Carver Center. The Vikings also held Elmhurst scoreless over the final 3:09 to key the fourth quarter comeback.
 
With 4:02 left to play in a fiercely contested game, Elmhurst's Kween Jean made a free throw to give the visitors a 56-52 lead. Augustana trimmed the lead to one point at the 3:18 mark when senior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) rebounded her own miss, made the basket and was fouled. After she drained the free throw the lead was down to 56-55.
 
Elmhurst promptly went up by three when Lily Greifenstein sank an eight foot baseline jumper at 3:09 to make it 58-55. That would be the final points of the night for the visitors.
 
A basket by Jones at 2:16 made it a one point game (58-57) and the Vikings got a stop on defense. Jones collared the defensive rebound after an Elmhurst miss and at the other end of the court senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) nailed a three point field goal off an assist by freshman Gabriela Loiz (Alleman Catholic HS, Davenport, Iowa) to give Augustana a 60-58 lead with 1:24 left.
 
Elmhurst coughed up the basketball as the game clock went under a minute and freshman Macy Beinborn (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) picked up the steal. Jones gave the Vikings a four point lead with :30 left on a basket in the lane with Lambert collecting the assist.
 
The visitors still had life but Kelly Weyhrich, who led her team in scoring with 14 points, missed a three point field goal with :15 left and Beinborn grabbed the rebound. Jones was eventually fouled and she made one of two free throws with :11 left to account for the final score.
 
Elmhurst bolted out to a 17-10 lead after one quarter of play but Augustana cut the margin to one point 28-27 at halftime. The Vikings outscored the Bluejay 21-16 in the third quarter and took a 48-44 lead into the fourth.
 
Jones led Augustana in scoring with 18 points and she added 10 rebounds while Lambert dropped in 14. Those were the only two Augustana players in double figures. The Vikings shot just .387 (24-62) from the floor but defensively they held Elmhurst to .397 (23-58).
 
The Bluejays won the rebounding battle by a margin of 41-38 with Jean grabbing 11 boards and scoring 12 points.
 
Augustana head coach Mark Beinborn watched his team move to 8-6 on the season and 3-2 in the CCIW. The Vikings will be in Decatur, Illinois on Saturday, January 11 for a conference battle with Millikin. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.