The Peacock defense gave the home team a shot at an upset in front of a rowdy crowd in Dorman Gym on Friday. Upper Iowa held the Vikings of Augustana University to just 65 points on Prochaska Court; Augie came in averaging nearly 78 points per game. UIU fought hard all game long and trailed by just six points with three minutes to play, but the Vikings secured the win with a 10-0 run as the clock wound down to post a 65-49 victory. Augustana improved to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in the Northern Sun, while Upper Iowa falls to 2-15 overall and 2-11 in the conference. 

After closing the gap to six points heading into the final quarter, Upper Iowa fell behind by as many as thirteen points, 55-42, a little more than three minutes into the fourth frame. The Peacocks stormed back to within two scores thanks to a 7-0 run fueled by four points from Carly Pagel and a three-pointer by Blake Bergren that Pagel assisted on. The UIU run lasted three and a half minutes and got the home team back within striking distance, 55-49. However, UIU turned the ball over twice and missed a pair of jumpers during the final minutes on their way to the sixteen-point loss.

UIU scored well in the first quarter taking a 15-12 lead back to the bench between frames. The Peacock offense slowed in the second quarter, while Augie's shooting really picked up. The visitors stormed back into the lead by outscoring their hosts 22-12 in the second quarter to lead by seven, 34-27, at the break. UIU's defense led the charge again in the third quarter holding their guests to just 12 points again, but only managed 13 points on offense in the period.

Blair Klostermann led the Peacocks in scoring, but struggled from the floor. The sophomore scored 15 points, but was held back by knocking down less than 25% of her 22 attempts; Klostermann pulled down 7 rebounds for the Peacocks. Pagel scored 11 points and is now just 7 points shy of joining the 1,000-point club and becoming the 12th women's basketball player at UIU to reach the lofty plateau. Haley Martin and Bergren also did a lot of work on the glass with 9 and 8 rebounds, respectively.

Upper Iowa will be back on the court tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. against the Wildcats of Wayne State College in Dorman Gym.