ROCK ISLAND – The Augustana women's basketball team returns to the Carver Center on Wednesday, February 15, to face the North Central Cardinals in the first of their remaining two regular season home games.
The Vikings possess a record of 15-8, 9-5 in conference, and sit third in the CCIW standings. Augie is coming off a 78-73 road defeat to the Carroll Pioneers on Saturday, February 11. The Vikings led by seven points at the half, yet Carroll knotted the score at 47 points apiece midway through the third period. By the start of the fourth frame, the Pioneers had built a seven-point advantage of their own, which they maintained through the remainder of the game. Macy Beinborn erupted for 37 points in the loss, tying her for the most points in a single game in program history with Mary McGivern's performance on March 3, 1989. Her 10 three-point field goals eclipsed the previous school record of eight, previously held by herself against Carroll on February 27, 2021, and Lauren Hall against Carthage on February 15, 2020. Beinborn's performance earned her CCIW Co-Student-Athlete of the Week honors alongside Millikin's Elyce Knudsen.
North Central enters Wednesday's contest with a 6-17 record, 3-12 in the conference. The most recent action for the Cardinals resulted in a 72-65 home loss to Illinois Wesleyan on Senior Night. North Central never trailed by more than nine points in the game but could not overcome the Titans' full-court pressure, which generated 21 Cardinal turnovers. Mitrese Smith led the Cardinals with 22 points and six rebounds, shooting 9-14 from the floor. North Central is 2-8 on the road this year, with their trip to Rock Island marking the end of their 2022-23 season.
Augustana leads North Central 46-37 in the all-time series. The most recent matchup between the two programs came on January 18, when the Vikings dropped the Cardinals 71-51 in Naperville. Augie led the Cardinals by 10 at the halfway point, though North Central battled their way to just a five-point deficit after shooting at a 50 percent clip in the third frame. A 19-6 scoring run from the Vikings to open the fourth period silenced the home crowd as Augie walked away with the convincing road win.
The Vikings will look to sweep the season series on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. from inside the Roy J. Carver Center. The stream link for the conference bout can be found here.
