ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – An extremely productive fourth quarter proved to be the answer for the Augustana women's basketball team on Wednesday, February 5 in the Carver Center. The Vikings outscored Wheaton 29-16 in the final stanza, shooting a blistering .750 (9-12) from the floor, as they defeated the Thunder 79-66 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action.
 
Entering the fourth quarter the game was tied 50-50 but head coach Mark Beinborn's Vikings were crisp and effective on offense during the final 10 minutes and it started on the very first position when senior Alexis Jones (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) broke the tie with a nifty move that led to a basket in the point.
 
Augustana actually scored the first eight points of the fourth with senior Mia Lambert (Macomb HS, Macomb, Ill.) hitting a free throw at 8:42 followed by a Jones basket at 7:35 to make it 55-50. Freshman Macy Beinborn (Pleasant Valley HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) drilled a three at the 7:29 mark to bump the margin to eight (58-50).
 
Wheaton battled back and cut the margin to three (58-55) with 5:59 remaining on a three point field goal by Kristi Demski. With just under five minutes remaining (4:58), Hannah Williams scored on a layup and the Thunder had the Vikings lead down to just two points (61-59).
 
Augustana proceeded to score on nine of its final 11 possessions of the game to run away from Wheaton. Leading by just a basket, Lambert drilled a three to make it 64-59 with 4:42 left. The Vikings fouled Wheaton's Hannah Frazier with 4:22 to play and she drained both free throws to make it a three point contest (64-61).
 
Then came a three-possession series that determined the outcome of the game. Sophomore Chaadah Hodges (Miller Career Academy, St. Louis, Mo.), who had scored just 21 points all season, hit a jumper from the right side of the lane to make it 66-61 with 4:01 left and then she hustled back on defense and grabbed the rebound of a missed Wheaton shot. That led to a basket by freshman Brie Bennis (Maquoketa HS, Delmar, Iowa) which pushed the lead to seven points (68-61) with 3:38 to play.
 
Wheaton cut it to five with just under three to play 68-63 at 2:59. Jones answered with a basket to make it 70-63 with 2:32 left and then Beinborn hit a three at 1:25 off a Jones assist. That made it a 10 point lead (73-63). Wheaton did get a three point field goal from Kirsten Madsen at 1:12 to cut things to 73-66 but that would be the last points of the game for the Thunder.
 
Augustana scored its final seven points from the free throw line to account for the final score of 79-66.
 
Lambert led the Vikings in scoring with 22 points while Jones had 15, sophomore Lauren Hall (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) dropped in 13 and Beinborn had 10. Augustana shot .426 (26-61) from the floor and hit .421 (8-19) from the three point line. The Vikings won the rebound battle 45-37 with Jones pulling down 14 and Hall getting 11.
 
Wheaton, which scored 10 of its 19 field goals from beyond the arc, was led in scoring by Madsen and Williams with 13 points. The Vikings held the Thunder's Hannah Frazier, the CCIW's "Player of the Year" in 2019, to 12 points on two of 12 from the floor.
 
Augustana is now 11-10 on the year and 6-6 in the CCIW and will play Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, February 8 at 5:00 p.m. Wheaton fell to 15-6 and 8-4 in the league.