SIOUX FALLS, S.D – Despite a career-best performance from Paige Grant, Augustana dropped its home opener to Upper Iowa, 79-58, on Thursday night inside the Elmen Center.
 
The Vikings drop to 0-3 on the year while the Peacocks open their season with a 1-0 record.
 
Grant led all scorers with her 16 points off 7-of-12 shooting from the field while Hannah Burg joined her in double digits with 12 points. Isabella Sanneh added in eight points and three steals as Payton Hardy pulled down 10 total rebounds and Olivia Hayenga blocked three shots.
 
Upper Iowa came out of the gates swinging, immediately jumping out to a 12-0 lead. Grant struck first for the Vikings and was quickly followed by a layup from Burg. She then teamed up with Hayenga and Hardy to lead the home team on a 7-0 run, which cut it to a 20-14 differential at the 1:27 mark. But the Peacocks would take a 26-14 lead at the end of the quarter after shooting 78.6% from the field.  
 
The visitors responded in the second quarter with nine straight points of their own to convincingly push the lead to 21. But Augustana stormed back. 10 straight points—featuring seven straight from Grant—from the home team made it a 37-26 game. UIU was also held scoreless for over four minutes, finally scoring again with 3:43 left in the half. The two teams traded buckets until the buzzer, with the visitors hitting the locker room with the 43-32 lead.
 
Third quarter started like the other periods of the game as the Peacocks rattled off a 7-0 run. Fittingly, Grant broke the run and kicked off an 10-2 response from the Vikings—a time in which Burg shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. That four-minute scoring spell held the visitors without a bucket for five minutes and brought the score up to 52-42. A layup from Sanneh kept the game at a 10-point differential and Burg scored in the final seconds of the quarter, but UIU held the 59-46 advantage.
 
The Peacocks lit up in the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points. Augustana hit back-to-back shots out of the time out, but they would get no closer. Lola Chambers scored six points to join in with Hardy on the action until Upper Iowa walked away with the 79-58 victory.
 
Looking Ahead
Augustana will return to its home court on Saturday with a 2 p.m. game against Central Missouri.
 

–GoAugie.com–