After an undoubtedly up-and-down year, the Augustana women’s basketball program came into the final week of the 2025-2026 regular season with two more games on the schedule. These two games would ultimately decide their season.
Looking to clinch a spot in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament, Augie would need to scrape together back-to-back wins against two teams that had already bested them earlier in the season.
Heading into the first of those two matchups against Elmhurst University, sophomore forward Tia Lewis knew the Vikings had to limit the four-time CCIW Player of the Week winner, Kristin Bukata, all while not letting her teammates hurt them as well, but Lewis felt Augie had the talent to do just that.
“Bukata has had a great season, but we have some really good defenders,” Lewis said. “Ciara [Hull] was a great presence, bothering Bukata all night. We also tried to stunt the gaps and focused on not losing our player to make sure she didn’t have an easy way to the basket. We just really made sure we had an idea where both the ball and our player was.”
The Vikings walked into the Roy J. Carver Center for their final home matchup of the season and secured a statement win against the sliding Elmhurst University, 81-56, holding Bukata to a rough shooting night while not allowing any other Bluejays to reach double figures.
Next, the Vikings’ attention shifted to their final game of the regular season against No. 20 Illinois Wesleyan University Titans. The last time these two teams met, the Vikings lost 74-70 on their home floor, dropping their first in-conference game of the season.
In a contest in which she led Augustana with 14 points, junior guard Paige Melton noted the big win against the Bluejays and said that, no matter who their opponent is, if there was a time for the Vikings to play their best basketball of the season, it was now.
“Us coming off of a good game yesterday is going to help,” Melton said. “If there’s ever a time to peak, now is the time, and I know our first matchup against [Illinois Wesleyan] was a while ago, but we were back and forth with them the whole game, and that proved to us that we can hang with them. Sure, they’re ranked, but that doesn’t matter if we use our advantages.”
Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Titans proved to be too much for them to handle, falling 86-68 and concluding their season with an overall record of 11-14, their third straight season with a losing record.
Even with the Vikings being unsuccessful in their quest to reach the CCIW tournament, senior forward Carly Stone noted just how much adversity the Vikings endured as the season progressed.
Stone, who battled back from a broken thumb midway through the season, hopes that even with the difficulties of this season, the upperclassmen on this team have left a lasting impact, just as the upperclassmen before them did.
“We’ve gone through a lot this year, especially with our injuries,” said Stone. “[This year’s seniors] have been to the CCIW tournament twice now, and we gained a lot of experience from that, and our upperclassmen. While it wasn’t the season that we wanted, I think a lot was learned as a team.”
Despite the season’s premature end, Head Coach Mark Beinborn said he is incredibly proud of the work his group has put in. As this group heads into the next season, the 14-year coach is ready to see even more steps taken as the Vikings look to turn their recent trend around and return to being a contender in the CCIW.
“There’s a lot we can learn and grow from, and we’re really returning a good core of players,” said Beinborn. “I feel good about this group and our potential. They showed [against Elmhurst] that they’re focused on the little things that make us better … They’re continuing to grow together, and this group just fights for each other.”
