Wheaton, Ill. -- Returning to King Arena for the last of three-consecutive home games, the Thunder women's basketball team welcomed the Augustana Vikings to town this evening for a conference matchup that was postponed by a day due to Wednesday's inclement weather. Four of the past six meetings between these two sides prior to Thursday's contest were decided by a single possession, and that trend continued tonight as Augustana held on for a nail-biting 58-55 win to avenge its loss to Wheaton in Rock Island back in January. The Thunder trailed by 18 points after the first quarter of today's game and almost managed to pull off a famous comeback victory, but their guests had just enough in the tank to walk away with the win. The result drops Wheaton's record to an even 11-11 on the season and 6-7 in CCIW play, while Augustana improves to 10-13 and 6-8 in conference action.
The visitors registered the first 16 points of Thursday's game and prevented Wheaton from getting on the scoreboard until the 4:42 mark of the first period. The hosts eventually got five points from consecutive possessions in the final minute of the quarter, but Augustana still led by 16, and a layup in the lane to close out the first frame gave the Vikings a healthy 26-8 advantage. The Thunder outscored their western Illinois rivals in each of the three remaining quarters of tonight's contest, but the deficit following the first period proved just too large to overcome. Only three baskets were made in total in the second quarter as neither side was able to establish any offensive rhythm. Augie notched the first bucket of the frame, but Wheaton held the Vikings scoreless over the last eight and a half minutes of the first half. A successful jumper followed by two free throws from tonight's leading scorer,
Alyssa Faberowski, gave the home side the final points of the half and made it 28-15 in Augustana's favor heading into the third quarter.
Reigning CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week
Annika Richardson brought the Vikings' lead to within single digits with back-to-back three-pointers at the start of the second half. But Augie answered with a 5-0 response to keep its host at arm's length. Halfway through the third period, Wheaton started heating up from the field and dropped in four triples over a three-minute span to close the gap to four points at 41-37. The two teams then exchanged foul shots, before Augustana got a momentum boost from a put-back layup as the third quarter horn sounded, making the score 45-38 heading into the final frame.
The Vikings managed to keep a certain level of control over the contest at the start of the fourth period, and their lead hovered around eight points until the last four minutes of the game. But the Thunder did well to stay within striking distance and mounted a furious late comeback attempt with an 8-0 run over two minutes down the stretch. Consecutive three-pointers from Faberowski followed an Augie turnover and missed shot to bring Wheaton back within two at 52-50 with two minutes left to play. The visitors scored four of the next six points off of well-designed layup play routines and owned a 56-52 edge with less than a minute remaining. But
Kate Oliver got the crowd back on its feet and put a seed of doubt in Vikings minds with a clutch three-pointer at the 40-second mark to cut Augustana's lead down to a single point. The visitors showed composure and came out of the subsequent timeout with another effectively-executed design to restore their advantage to three points at 58-55. The Thunder called a timeout and advanced the ball across half court with ten seconds left, giving them one last opportunity to tie the score and likely send the game into overtime. But the Vikings came up with the defensive stop they needed and thwarted the following three-point attempt to narrowly cling on for an important road win.
Augustana posted a 38.2% shooting percentage for the game despite a woeful 1-13 mark in the second quarter and held Wheaton to a 32.7% figure through four quarters. The Thunder attempted twice as many three-pointers as their opponents on Thursday and sank 11 triples to Augie's five, while both sides shot 12 free throws and were accurate from the stripe, with the Vikings making 11 and the Thunder sinking ten. Augustana out-rebounded its host at a 38-32 line and grabbed an impressive 13 offensive boards, while both squads turned the ball over 15 times and came up with six steals. Wheaton's three-point shooting advantage was balanced by the Vikings' dominance in the paint, as Augustana registered 32 points in the lane and held the home side to just two on the night. The visitors also held the upper hand in points off of turnovers and fast break scoring, but Wheaton got more production from its bench and enjoyed a sizable 19-8 edge in second chance points.
Faberowski led all scorers with a career-high 20 points this evening and sank four triples while shooting over 50% from three-point range. The junior also dished out two assists and grabbed a pair of steals. Richardson scored 11 points despite seeing her time on the court limited due to early foul trouble and made three threes and earned the same number of assists. Oliver contributed nine points, a game-high three steals, and five rebounds on Thursday.
Grace Kizer tallied a game-leading four assists while going for six points and five boards.
Jenna Hunter brought down a team-best seven rebounds tonight.
The Thunder now face a short turnaround window ahead of their next contest. Wheaton will travel to Carthage College on Saturday afternoon for its final road game of the regular season, with tip-off between the Thunder and the Firebirds set for 2 PM in Kenosha.
