ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team is set to host the Coe Kohawks on Saturday, November 23.
The Vikings return to action after hosting the Hyatt Place Tournament last weekend, where they finished with a 1-1 record to make an overall record of 1-2. In the win against Edgewood, both teams tied two times in the opening minutes 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.
Returning to the court, the Vikings scored five points to increase the margin to 19. 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.
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.
The Kohawks enter the contest with a 4-1 record and return to action after collecting a 58-39 victory against Cornell on Wednesday. The Kohawks put the clamps on the Rams throughout the game, holding the visitors to just 22.6 percent shooting and 16.7 from deep. Coe built an early lead in the first quarter, outscoring the Rams 18-6, but struggled to find the mark in the second quarter, scoring only three points. The Kohawks stretched the lead in the third and ripped off a 10-5 run to start the final period. Caydee Kirkham led Coe with 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Taylor Brunson followed with 12 points and Ellie Wisner notched 11.
Augie holds an 11-9 all-time series record over Coe with the Vikings securing a 79-60 victory in 2021.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
