SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Elmen Center) - The Augustana College Vikings
women’s basketball team handed Bemidji State University its
eighth consecutive loss, 92-69, Friday at the Elmen Center in Sioux
Falls, S.D.
The Vikings used a 11-1 run to
start the game and pushed its lead to 23 (52-29) by the halftime horn
vaulting themselves to their eighth consecutive win over the Beavers
dating back to Dec. 30, 1991.
The Vikings were
led by a quartet of double-digit scorers. Amy Puthoff led the way with
a game-high 21 points while Megan Doyle chipped in 18. Whitney Hofer
added 12 points while Faith Tinklenberg netted 10 points off the bench.
Hofer pulled down eight of her game-high 12 boards in the first half
for the lone double-double performance of the game.
Hofer
and Puthoff combined for the first six points of the night to put AC up
6-0 after 53 seconds and the Vikings would never look back.
The Vikings stretched their lead to 11-1 to start the game. BSU’s Sydney Epema
(Fr., G, Crookston, Minn.) brought the Beavers to within seven points
(11-4) on one of her three treys of the game, but that was as close as
BSU was able to get.
Augustana came out on
fire in the first half as the Vikings shot 54.5 percent (18-33) from
the field and 55.0 percent from the three-point arc (11-20) while
holding BSU to just 21.4 percent shooting (6-28) and 1-of-13 (.077)
from behind the arc allowing the Vikings to stretch its lead to 52-29
by the half.
BSU came out of the break to
close the gap to 21 (58-37) as Epema hit a pair of free-throws with
17:03 left in the game but a 18-6 run over the next 6:29 pushed the
Vikings lead to the largest of the game of 33 points (76-43) a lead the
Beavers would not be able to come back from. By games end BSU closed
the gap to 23 falling 92-69 in the Beavers first game of 2009.
Heidi Matzke
(Sr., G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) led the Beavers in scoring for the
second consecutive game totaling 15 points. The freshman duo of Samantha Baldwin (Fr., G, St. Thomas, N.D.) and Epema netted 13 points apiece while Colleen McKay
(So., F, Barnum, Minn.) added 10 points. Baldwin’s 13 points was
a career and season high. Matzke and Baldwin each grabbed seven
rebounds while Matzke led BSU with four assists.
Bemidji
State ended the contest shooting 33.9 percent (19-56) from the field,
28.6 percent (6-21) from the three-point arc and 69.4 percent from the
free-throw line (25-36) while Auggie was 49.2 percent from the floor
(32-65), 48.3 percent (14-29) from the arc and 70.0 percent (14-20)
from the line. BSU outrebounded the Vikings 40-39 in the contest but
committed eight more turnovers (26-18).
BSU falls to 1-8 all-time versus Augustana.
BSU
falls to 2-10 on the season and 0-5 in NSIC play marking the first time
since 2004-05, when the Beavers dropped their first twelve league
contests. The team will be back in action tomorrow evening when the
Beavers travel to Wayne, Neb. to take on the Wayne State College
Wildcats from the Rice Auditorium. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
Notes:
Bemidji State is currently on a season-long eight game losing skid,
longest since the 2004-05 season...Each team had four double digit
scorers...BSU’s Matzke led the Beavers in scoring for the eighth
time this season...Baldwin netted a career-high 13 points...Auggie
netted a season-high 14 3-pointers, 11 coming in the first half.
Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA
Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun
Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
--beavers--
