Upper Iowa won the second and fourth quarters by three points, but the Augustana University Vikings dominated the first and third quarters to secure an 84-61 Northern Sun Conference victory. The Peacocks pulled with four points of the Vikings in the second quarter erasing the first quarter hole, but couldn't recover after Augustana separated again in the third quarter. The loss drops UIU to 5-15 overall and 4-10 in the NSIC, while AU improves to 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the conference.
After trailing by as many as thirteen points, 18-5, in the first quarter, the Peacocks began to find their stride on offense and chipped away at the Viking lead in the second quarter. UIU converted just one field goal in the first quarter, but knocked down 8 of their 19 shots in the second quarter to score 22 points. UIU scored the final three points of the first quarter and then opened the second quarter with a 10-4 run in just two and a half minutes to cut the margin to just four points, 22-18. The teams went back and forth in the quarter and a
Sam Ofstad jumper at the elbow closed the distance to five, 35-30, with under 30 seconds to play. Augustana would scratch the scoreboard last in the half with their eighth three-pointer of the game. In fact, the Vikings shot 50% from three (8-16), but the Peacocks were able to force 12 turnovers to limit Augie's opportunities.
In the third quarter, the two teams struggled to score during the first five minutes, but Augustana used a 20-5 run over the final five minutes to push their lead to 24 points, 63-39. The run for the Vikings was fueled by eight points from Sophie Kenney and six points inside by Paige Peterson. Augustana pushed their lead to 31, 83-52, with two and a half minutes to go. Upper Iowa closed out the game on a 9-1 run to cut the final margin to 23, 84-61.
The Vikings knocked down 12 of their 27 three-pointers and won the rebounding battle 40-36. Both teams struggled with their ballhandling on the night with UIU coughing it up 21 times and Augie giving it away 20 times.
Whitney Kieffer,
Carly Pagel and
Kari Fitzpatrick all scored 12 points to lead the Peacock offense and
Sam Ofstad added 9 points and 6 assists. Cleaver, UIU's leading scorer, struggled from the floor but handed out 4 assists. Pagel spearheaded the Peacocks' effort on the boards with 8, while Kieffer snagged 4 steals and Fitzpatrick added 3 steals.
Upper Iowa will hit the road next weekend with games at the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Bemidji State University on Saturday, Jan. 29-30.
