The Augustana Women’s Basketball team took on Carthage College for the second time this season, winning 64-53. In their previous game against Carthage, the Vikings fell 84-90 after two overtimes.
“We had a fire under our butts for this game,” senior Mia Lambert said. “We went into two overtimes and lost [last time], so we were amped up for this game and we were ready for them.”
It was expected that this game Augustana would come out with a vengeance and start with a hard intensity. The first quarter started with a strong determination from Augustana; they came out with a lead right away.
For the first five minutes, Augie had the only points on the board leading 13-0. Augie continued to keep up the pressure, and the quarter ended with Augustana in the lead 21-13.
“We know our capabilities and we had to come together like a fist. I think that is how we really prepared,” sophomore Lauren Hall said. “We really pushed each other at practice for today’s game.”
The second quarter started with the same kind of domination from the first. Both teams started to get more and more physical and the game got a little more competitive as Carthage attempted to surpass Augustana.
Carthage began to pick it up; they managed to get a comeback and get a one point lead. But that didn’t stop the Vikings because at the end of the half, they still came out with the 30-29 lead.
In the third quarter, the Vikings made it their mission to further their lead. Augustana denied everything that Carthage attempted.
Twice in a row, there was around a two-minute period where neither team made any points but Augie prevailed both times with a three from Hall.
The Vikings maintained their lead and dominated the entire quarter, not letting Carthage get any points until there was a little over two minutes left.
In the fourth and final quarter, Carthage began to recover from the third quarter and made up for their lost points. With exactly six minutes left in the game the score was tied.
With only a minute passing, Hall made a three-pointer and less than 30 seconds later, she made another, forcing Carthage to call a timeout.
“We had this game. The team was playing so well and I think we all knew that we had it. We like trying to stay poised and calm thoughtout the game.” Hall said.
The game continued on and Carthage had only managed to gain one point. Again Hall secured the Vikings another three points.
With around two minutes left in the game, Jones made her final points in the game and was able to reach a total of 1,000 points in her entire collegiate career.
“We just moved the ball around, we played as a team and we played as a fist and when we do that we’re unstoppable,” Lambert said.
“We are really hoping to make a run in the tournament,” Hall said. “This game was really big for us. Even to get into the tournament this year would an accomplishment because we had some little struggles and bumps in the road along the way.
“As a team, making a run in the tournament would be huge for us. It’s what we plan on doing and that’s what we want to do.”