DECATUR, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team fell to the No. 16 Millikin Big Blue in the first conference matchup of the season on Wednesday, falling by a score of 85-48.

The Big Blue got on the board early in the opening frame, earning seven points before the Vikings responded with four of their own. Millikin held the lead and owned a 14-point advantage after the first 10 minutes of action. 

The Vikings held a positive margin in the second quarter until a minute before halftime when Millikin connected on back-to-back shots to move the differential to 21-19 and take a 46-30 lead into halftime. Both teams notched a shooting percentage of 33.3 in the quarter. Augustana saw a big advantage at the free throw line to help them post their highest scoring margin of the game, hitting 9-10 from the stripe. 

Millkin ran away with the lead out of the half, expanding the difference by 24 in the third. Augie's defense had two blocks and six rebounds in the quarter.

The Vikings conquered the final frame of the battle with a 12-9 margin. Augie made five of their shot attempts for a 41.7 shooting percentage, while Millikin only made four of 15 looks. 

Macy Beinborn led the Vikings in scoring and collected a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.. The next top scorer was Kadence Tatum, who snatched nine points, four assists, four steals, and one rebound.

The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team will stay on the road and travel north to Kenosha, Wis. for their second conference game of the season against the Carthage Firebirds on Saturday, December 2 at 2 p.m.