WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team will head north for the Titan Holiday Classic, where they will face off against the No. 5 UW-Oshkosh Titans on Friday, December 20, and the Concorida-Chicago Cougars on Saturday, December 21.
The Vikings head into the two non-conference games with a 4-6 record after dominating the Dubuque Spartans 71-55 on Tuesday. Dubuque scored first in the contest, but it was the team's only lead as Augie quickly followed with seven points to grab the advantage. A layup from Kadence Tatum got the team to a 12-point difference with a little over two minutes remaining. The Spartans collected the final points of the quarter but the Vikings led 18-8 after 10 minutes of action. Augustana held Dubuque to just 23 percent shooting in the first. Emma Berg moved the score to the largest gap of the game at 13 after three minutes of play in the second quarter. Dubuque used a late spurt to inch closer, but Augie remained ahead 35-29 heading into halftime. Carly Stone led the team in the first half with nine points, while Berg followed with eight.
Returning to the court, the Vikings outscored the Spartans 20-11 and shot 61.5 percent from the field in the third. Dubuque shrunk the gap to as little as five before an eight-point run from Augie stretched it back to 13. Tatum closed the quarter with a layup to make the lead 15 heading into the final 10 minutes of action. In the final quarter, Tatum made a three-pointer from Melton to increase the gap to 18 at 58-40. Augie snatched four more points to create the game's largest lead with a 22-point gap, keeping Dubuque scoreless in the quarter until 6:04. The Vikings maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the frame and concluded the game with a 16-point difference with a score of 71-55.
Berg led the team with 16 points, two assists, and two steals. Tatum followed with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals, and a block. Stone collected 13 points and Cali Papez secured 10.
The Vikings' first matchup will be against UW-Oshkosh on Friday. The Titans enter the contest with a 7-0 overall record and return after a 71-40 victory on Monday against Benedictine. UW-Oshkosh shot 49.1 percent, while their opponent shot 31.1 percent. Sammi Beyer and Alex Rondorf led the team with nine points, while Paige Seckar followed with seven. The Titans have a 3-0 home record with their last game at home being the win against Benedictine. UW-Oshkosh holds a 4-1 all-time series record over Augie. The Titans won the most recent matchup in the Hyatt Place Tournament championship game in 2022 by a score of 64-49.
On Saturday, Augie will battle Concordia-Chicago who enters the weekend with a 1-5 record and returns to action after a 70-42 loss against Concordia (Wis.) on Tuesday. The Cougars shot 35.4 percent from the field, while their opponent shot 41.7 percent. Nazuri Whigham led the team with 13 points and two rebounds, while Alisyn Hinton-Henry and Abby Kulig collected seven shots off the glass apiece. Augie holds a 3-1 all-time series record over Concordia-Chicago with their last matchup being in 2006 when the Cougars collected a 69-51 victory.
Tip-off on Friday against Oshkosh is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday's start time is slated for 12 p.m.
