The Augustana Women’s basketball team has started their 2018-2019 season with a record of 3-2. They started the season with two losses, but are now on a three game win streak.
Throughout the past few weeks, the Vikings have traveled to many non-conference games. On Nov. 20, the team played Coe College. Augustana led the first quarter, but by halftime Coe had caught up making the score 30-30. After halftime, the Vikings came out strong with a 15 point lead at the end of the third quarter. The Kohawks managed to score 30 points during the last quarter of the game, but were one shot shy of beating the Vikings. Augustana won 71-70.
After this close game, senior caption Clare Kramer talked about what the team is wanting to work on for the remaining season.
“Being able to talk on both ends of the court, offensively and defensively, is going to be vital for us as conference season approaches. Additionally, we have been focusing heavily on defense and rebounding for the past couple weeks in practice,” Kramer said. “If we can continue to lock teams down offensively and own the boards, we should be in good shape.”
On Saturday, Nov. 24, the team played Webster University. The team came out of the gates strong with 25 points scored in the first quarter of the game. Senior Isabelle Anderson scored seven points within the first few minutes of the game.
“A strategy of ours is to control the pace of the games we play in. We like to get up and down the court and play pretty fast. This means we also want to force teams that aren’t used to playing at a fast pace to speed up, and hopefully turn the ball over more than they typically do,” Anderson said.
By the second quarter against Webster, the Vikings were down by two points. Both teams came down to the wire during the final quarter of the game. Webster put 16 additional points on the scoreboard while Augustana added another 15 to their total score, securing the victory for the Vikings.
Last season, the team finished fourth in conference and were defeated in the championship game. The Vikings have the majority of their season ahead of them. Senior captain Sadie Roberts talked about what the team’s mindset is for the rest of this season.
“The goal for the team is to finish in the top two for conference. The team has a lot of experience and we know how to work together under pressure. We stay determined and consistent during games,” Roberts said.
The Vikings’ next game will take place at home against Wisconsin-Whitewater on Nov. 28 at 5 p.m. The team hopes to see many fans there and they appreciate all of the support.
“I’m really proud of this group of seniors we have for being an integral part in changing the culture of Augustana women’s basketball,” Anderson said.