ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team collected their first win of the 2024-25 season after a 73-47 victory against the Edgewood Eagles on Saturday.
The Eagles kicked off the game first with two free throws, but that was the only lead the visitors had the entire game. The two teams drew even at 2-2 and again at 5-5 before a free throw by Dolly Smith secured the lead for good for the Vikings. Paige Melton and Ashley Lang closed out the quarter with good layups to make it a 14-9 score after the first 10 minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the teams were neck-to-neck until Audrey Erickson kicked off a scoring run for Augie with seven minutes remaining to put the team up by eight points. The gap increased to 10 after a three-point shot from Erickson and Emma Berg followed with two jump shots to create a lead of 14 with a score of 35-21 entering the halftime break. The Vikings collected 10 more rebounds than the Eagles with 29 and notched seven steals in the first half. After 20 minutes, Erickson led with nine points and five assists while Berg had seven and two steals.
Returning to the court, the Vikings scored five points to increase the margin to 19, their largest lead of the game. Edgewood inched closer and evened up Augustana in the third quarter at 14 points apiece, but the Vikings held a 49-35 advantage entering the fourth.
Augie outscored the Eagles 13-3 after five minutes of action in the final quarter to stretch the difference to 24. The Vikings continued to pull away from Edgewood with a three-pointer from Ella Chapman to create the largest gap of the game with 28 points. Augustana finished the game with a plus-12 differential in the final 10 minutes to seal the 26-point victory. The Vikings collected 55 rebounds as a team compared to the Eagles' 41.
Erickson just missed a triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists to lead Augie, while Carly Stone collected 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Berg followed with 12 points and five rebounds and Tia Lewis also hauled in 11 boards.
With the win, Augie moves to 1-2 on the season and will stay at home to battle the Coe Kohawks next Saturday.
