The Peacock women's basketball team struggled to find consistent success against the pressure of the Augustana Vikings on Friday night in Fayette. Augie came away with a 61-44 victory on Play4Kay/#LouiseStrong Night. Upper Iowa celebrated both the memory of legendary basketball coach Kay Yow, but also honored one of their own. Louise Scott, the university's Dean of Student Development, was the teams' special guest tonight and she threw up the ceremonial tip prior to the game (pictured above). The Viking defenders forced the Peacocks into tough shots all night and turned UIU over 24 times in the game.
Augie jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead, but Upper Iowa responded with an 18-5 run over a nine and a half minute span. The Peacock run was fueled by balanced scoring from three players;
Ashley Rosenstiel,
Lindsay Carroll and
Lauren Buck. Capped off by a trifecta from the hand of
Laura TerHark, the run gave Upper Iowa an 18-15 lead with 7:02 to play in the half. The Vikings, however, shutout their hosts over the final seven minutes of the period and took a 27-18 lead into the locker room at the break. During the final seven minutes, UIU turned the ball over six times and missed all seven of their shot attempts.
The visitors continued to be stingy on the defensive end as the second half opened. UIU's drought reached nearly two minutes of the second half before
Olivia Meier broke the silence with a made free throw. Augustana doubled their nine-point halftime lead by the nine minute mark of the second half outscoring the Peacocks 20-11 over that span. UIU began to chip away at the lead and whittled it down to 12 points on two occasions with the last coming with 3:36 showing on the clock, but a three-pointer by Sydney Rome gave the Vikings their 15 point lead back and pushed the game out of reach in the final minutes. Augie pushed their lead to twenty in the final seconds before settling for the 17 point win.
Augustana, who turned the ball over 19 times, was led by Nicole Kerkhoff and Shaunteva Ashley, who both scored 15 points. Ashley added 6 assists, while Kerkhoff pulled down 8 rebounds. Paige Peterson grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Viking effort on the glass.
Upper Iowa was led by three scorers in double figures; Carroll scored 13, while Buck added 12 and Rosenstiel scored 11. Buck posted her 15th double-double of the season with 15 rebounds.
The Peacocks will be back on Prochaska Court tomorrow evening for Senior Night at 4 p.m. against the #16 Wildcats of Wayne State College. The six seniors will be honored following the game and fans are asked to dress in their best American gear for the final regular season game of the year in Dorman.
