Box Score Records
Upper Iowa (5-20, 4-17 NSIC) ||Augustana (15-10, 11-10 NSIC)
Recap
The Upper Iowa women's basketball team led by nine points nearly midway through the second half of their matchup with the Vikings of Augustana College. Yet, foul trouble and a run-and-gun Viking offense haunted the Peacocks as their guests used a 32-19 run to close out the game and seal the 97-93 victory inside Dorman Gym.
It's no secret that the Vikings like to get out and run on offense. It provides for fast-paced, high-scoring entertainment, but it can also wear down an opponent, or at least limit the effectiveness of key players due to foul trouble.
Despite 23 points from
Whitney Kieffer, 20 from
Carly Pagel and 18 from
Sam Thrapp, the trio had 10 combined fouls. Factor in
Lauren Buck's 12 points and 4 personal fouls and you can see why Augie's run was so effective as these four players had to sit crucial minutes during the Vikings' offensive burst.
From the get-go, the teams were in a track meet. Despite five combined turnovers during the first three minutes of action, the teams came out firing on offense. UIU's fast start was kick-started by a
Sam Thrapp steal.
Lauren Buck converted the fast break with a layup a minute into the game. Kieffer added a jumper before the Vikings answered with a three.
Thrapp kept up the fast pace for UIU as she drove right past the defense and earned an easy layup off the glass, but the Vikings responded quickly. Back-to-back buckets from Augie gave the visitors their first lead of the game, 7-6. Again, Thrapp provided the spark for UIU as she found
Olivia Winkler in front of the hoop for the go-ahead bucket.
Augie bounced right back as the Vikings hit three straight buckets to take a 13-8 lead. UIU added a three from Thrapp and another bucket from Kieffer to cut the Peacocks' deficit to two, 15-13, with 13:11 left in the period.
Lindsay Carroll and Thrapp drained back-to-back threes over the next two minutes, but the Vikings still held a 20-19 lead.
Despite a slim lead, the Vikings couldn't pull away from their hosts. Over the next five minutes, Augie outscored UIU, 13-10, but the Peacocks weren't going away. With six and a half minutes left before halftime, Buck hit her second bucket of the game and pulled the home team within two points, 33-31. On the next possession, UIU tied the game thanks to a bucket from
Emily Gustafson.
Tied for the first time, the Vikings didn't waste any time retaking the lead. Augie converted two freebies from the charity stripe and added a bucket, but UIU tied the game at 37-all thanks to field goals from Kieffer and
Carly Pagel. On the Peacocks' next possession, Carroll hit her second trifecta of the game to give UIU its first lead since the 17:31 mark of the first half. Her trey gave the home team a 40-37 lead with 3:18 left in the period, but the Vikings' Rhianna Gullickson converted a three-point play to pull here team even.
Gullickson added another bucket on Augie's next possession as the visitors outscored their hosts 13-4 in just a minute and a half. UIU found one last response before the halftime buzzer sounded as Pagel hit back-to-back layups in the paint pulling the Peacocks within two at the break, 50-48.
Despite a 54-percent shooting clip from Upper Iowa, the Peacocks couldn't slow down the Augustana offense. The Vikings hit 19 of their 30 first half field goal attempts – a blazing 63-percent shooting mark.
The Vikings came out of intermission and scored quickly, but the Peacocks used their late first-half momentum to tie the game at 52-all thanks to four straight points from Kieffer. The junior guard from Scales Mound, Illinois then gave the home team the lead two minutes into the final period as she converted a three-point play after being fouled on a jumper.
The teams exchanged buckets as Kieffer drove to the hoop and converted a layup in traffic, which pushed her point total to 18 with 16:39 left in regulation. Augie answered with a triple before Bucket tied the game at 59-all with a field goal in the paint. Thirty seconds later, the teams were still tied at 61, but another field goal from Buck put the home team in front.
The Vikings tied the game one more time before UIU took over. From the 14:40 mark to the 11:43 mark, the Peacocks outscored their guests 11-2 to take a 74-65 lead. Thrapp had six points in that stretch, while
Laura TerHark drained a three from the corner.
That lead didn't last though. Augie answered UIU's run with an 11-2 offensive burst as the Vikings pulled even, 76-76 with 8:50 left in the period. During that span, the Peacocks missed all three of their field goal attempts and turned the ball over three times.
Augie then took the lead at the 6:58 mark thanks to a jumper on the baseline from Katie Meister. Two free throws from Buck tied the game at 80-all, but Augie retook the lead on its next possession. UIU turned to Pagel for an answer and the sophomore delivered. The Sumner, Iowa native worked the block and earned a contested layup to tie the game for the 13th time.
All tied up at 82-82, the Vikings went back to what they do best – run and gun. Augie scored the next seven points in 1:36 to take an 89-82 lead.
Gustafson and Pagel broke the visitor's streak as both earned offensive boards and a trip to the charity stripe. The duo hit a pair of free throws each as UIU pulled within three, 89-86, with three minutes to play. Riley Nordgaard answered for Augie with a step-back jumper before Pagel hit two more freebies.
The Vikings went back to Nordgaard and she attached a free throw to Augie's lead. UIU couldn't find an answer on the offensive end and the visitors made the home team pay. Shaunteva Ashley – who led all scorers with 34 points – hit a long two to give her team a 94-88 lead with one minute to play.
The Peacocks weren't done yet. UIU went back to Pagel and she hit the 20-point plateau with a layup in traffic. The ensuing full-court pressure defense from the home team didn't stop Augie from adding two free throws, but Kieffer drained a triple from the left wing nine seconds later to pull UIU within one score, 96-93, with 13 seconds left.
Augie hit one of two free throws to make it a two-score game and the Peacocks couldn't recover as the visitors escaped Fayette with a 97-93 win.
Stat of the Game
Shaunteva Ashley's 34 points on Friday is the most the Peacocks have allowed to a single player all season.
UIU Standouts
Kieffer (23 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Pagel (20 points, 5 rebounds), Thrapp (18 points, 6 assists, 2 steals), Buck (12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), Carroll (9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist)
Up Next
The Peacocks will celebrate senior night tomorrow night inside Dorman Gym as UIU hosts Wayne State at 6 p.m.
Sam Thrapp is the lone senior for the team in blue this year.
