ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team dropped a close battle to the No. 14 Millikin Big Blue on Saturday by a score of 64-53.
The Vikings were first on the board with two layups by Corey Whitlock to start the first quarter with a 4-0 lead. Augie held the Big Blue scoreless until a pair of free throws at 7:25 and maintained their lead until another set of shots from the charity line tied the score at 11-11 with 3:06 remaining. The Vikings returned the favor with a five-point run to increase the gap to 16-11 at 1:48 and maintained the five-point gap before Macy Beinborn closed out the first half with a floating jump shot to create a 21-16 game. The Vikings secured a 52.9 shooting percentage with nine made field goals, holding Millikin to 23.5 percent with four field goals after 10 minutes of play.
In a neck-to-neck second quarter, both teams added 12 to their score, with Augie coming out on top 33-28 at the halftime break. Three free throws from Beinborn stretched the gap to six with a score of 24-18. Millikin closed the gap to one point, but shots from Linnea Johansen at the free throw line brought the difference back to three. The Big Blue tied the battle at 28-28 with three-and-a-half minutes remaining, but a layup from Emma Berg started a 5-0 run to bring the score to 33-28.
In the third quarter, Millikin generated a 18-10 margin, overtaking the Vikings at 8:52 with a score of 35-33 following a run to begin the frame. The Big Blue held on to the lead until a jumper from Mariola Tesoro brought the advantage back to Augie. Both teams tied two more times, but the Big Blue held a three-point advantage with a score of 36-33 going into the final quarter.
Tesoro started the fourth quarter with a driving layup to narrow the score to just one point and a three-pointer from Berg later tied the game at 48-48 with 8:07 remaining. Millikin converted a nine-point run to pull out in front and the Vikings were unable to overtake the Big Blue as they fell 18-10 in the quarter to result in a 64-53 final score.
Whitlock and Berg led the Vikings with 15 points, with Whitlock also collecting seven rebounds and two steals. Beinborn and Johansen followed with seven points each, while Johansen also added 14 rebounds.
With the loss, Augie moves to 12-12 on the season and 7-8 in conference play. The Vikings will travel to Wisconsin on Saturday, February 17 for the last regular season conference matchup against the No. 20 Carroll Pioneers.
