NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings women's basketball team fell to the North Central Cardinals on Wednesday by a score of 64-58.
The Cardinals were first on the board, but Augie followed with four points to make a 4-3 score after three minutes of play. North Central regained the advantage until a jump shot from Kadence Tatum started a 7-0 run to secure a 13-7 lead. The Vikings maintained their momentum to close out the first quarter with a 16-13 score. Augie secured six field goals, while holding the Cardinals to three made shots.
In a neck-to-neck second quarter, the Cardinals outscored Augie with a 17-13 margin. North Central narrowed the scoring gap to within two, but the Vikings kept the advantage until a set of free throws by the Cardinals evened the score at 22-22 with 4:33 left in the half. Both teams tied once again, but a layup by Linnea Johansen turned the lead back to the Vikings. Two back-to-back three-pointers from North Central gave them the upper hand with 25 seconds left in the quarter. Johansen closed out the first half with a layup to tie the game with one second left in the second quarter and both teams headed into the break with a score of 30-30.
Returning from the halftime break, Cali Papez started the scoring with a jump shot from Corey Whitlock to take a two-point advantage. The third quarter had four lead changes, with neither team holding more than a four-point gap. The Vikings secured five consecutive points to move the score to 46-42 with 45 seconds left. North Central grabbed the last point of the quarter from the charity stripe, but Augie stayed ahead with a 46-43 score heading into the last 10 minutes of play. The Vikings shot 63.6 percent, while holding the Cardinals to just 22.7 percent in the period.
In the fourth, Augie was out-scored 21-12 in its lowest-scoring quarter, beginning with an 11-point run from the Cardinals stretched the score to 54-49. A three-point shot from Emma Berg cut the gap back to two, but North Central secured four consecutive successful attempts. The Cardinals ran away with the lead after going 6-8 from the free throw line to conclude the battle 64-58.
Whitlock led the Vikings with a double-double with 19 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and one block. Berg followed with 12 points, while Johansen secured 10 points.
With the loss, Augie moves to 12-11 on the season and 7-7 in conference play. The Vikings will return home Saturday, February 10 for the last home conference battle against No. 14 Millikin.
