Augustana women fall in NCAA Tournament

DULUTH, Minn. (AUGIE) – The Augustana women’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament journey fell short in the first round of the Central Regional against Missouri Southern, 75-74, in Duluth, Minnesota. The Vikings end their 2022-23 season 25-6 overall while head coach Dave Krauth’s career concludes with a 695-302 record.

Augustana found its spark in the early minutes of the contest seeing a 5-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from Aislinn Duffy to open all scoring. The Lion’s kept on the Vikings heels to tie the score at 18 to end the quarter. The Vikings shot an efficient 43.8 percent in the first 10 minutes. 

Michaela Jewett made her presence known in the first half, connecting on 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the arc to tally 17 points. The Vikings held the Lions to 19 points in the second quarter, bridging a three point advantage heading into halftime. 

The Vikings led at the half 40-37. Jewett led with 17 points while Duffy led in rebounds with 5. Augustana shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first half while MSST shot 37.5 percent. 

Augustana cruised into the fourth period without a hiccup, connecting on 7-of-15 (.467) scoring 19 points in the period. The Vikings held the Lions to just 13 points in the third quarter, capitalizing on four of Missouri Southern’s five turnovers. Jewett continued to be a force to be reckoned with tallying five points while Duffy tacked on eight points to lead scoring in the quarter. 

In what proved to be the final quarter of the season, Augustana extended the scoring gap by as much as 12 points until the Lions found a last minute offensive push. Missouri State chipped away at the lead creating a tied score of 72 with 29 seconds remaining on the clock. An old-fashioned 3-point play gave the Lions their first lead since the first quarter. 

A driving layup by Duffy gave Augustana a one point advantage, 74-73, over MSSU. With five seconds left on the clock, the Lions found a trip to the charity stripe, sinking both shots to gain the one point lead and a trip to the NCAA Central Region second round.  Overall, Augustana was led in scoring by Jewett with 27 points while Duffy followed with 22. Duffy, playing her final collegiate game, led the Vikings in rebounds with eight while Jewett followed with seven. Duffy concludes her career with 1,363 points, good for 15th all-time at AU. Her 769 rebounds place her in a tie for ninth place all-time at Augustana. Those career marks were completed in just 99 games played.