The Augustana Viking basketball teams will be entering this weekend on a high from their four wins this past week- end.
The women set the pace of the night on Saturday, Feb. 13, in the Elmen Center by sweeping the Winona State Warriors 93-71.
Five Vikings scored in double dig- its. Junior guard Megan Doyle led the scorers, recording 23 points and seven assists. The Vikings pulled out with an early lead by outscoring the Warriors 12-3 in the first six minutes.
"One of the biggest strengths of our team is our depth," freshman forward Alex Feeney said. "If teams take one per- son away, someone else steps up."
Feeney added 12 points for the night and a career high of 12 rebounds.
Junior guard Megan Doyle enjoys playing at home.
"All of us girls love playing at the El- men Center," Doyle said. "We look for- ward to home games because of the atmosphere. Because our conference is so competitive, it is important that we win our home games."
The Augustana men turned around from a 16-point deficit to win 82-81 over the Warriors. In a movie-like ending, freshman guard Cameron McCaffrey wowed fans by scoring a buzzer- beating shot to surge the Vikings ahead one point. McCaffrey made 20 of his 29 points in the second half.
"It was like no feeling I've had before," McCaffrey said. "To be able to do that for my team and for the school was just un- believable."
McCaffrey knew the team needed to do something drastic to pull off the win. "When we were down by that much I knew that we had to do something to get the momentum," McCaffrey said. "We really put the defense on and forced them to get out of their game plan."
McCaffrey said the difference in this game was the hustle the team gave throughout the entire game.
"Plays on both ends of the court by players such as Chad Hettermann and Cody Schilling helped spark that comeback," McCaffrey said.
Sophomore guard Cody Schilling also scored double dig- its on the night with 19 points.
"I think we realized that it was time to step up and make plays, and I thought we played a lot harder the last 10 minutes," Schilling said. "It was a huge comeback win for us."
The wins this weekend improved the women's record to 18-5 overall and 12-4 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The men are now 19-4 overall and 12-4 in the NSIC.
The men and women both defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Friday, Feb. 12, in the Elmen Center. The women won 104-49 and the men 84-73.
The teams will play two away games this weekend, today against the University of Mary Marauders in Bismarck, N.D., and on Saturday versus Northern State University Wolves in Aberdeen.
"It's going to be a tough week- end," senior guard Jordan Dalton said. "Mary and Northern both are tough at home, but if we stay focused and come together as a team this weekend, hopefully we can come out of it with a pair of wins."
The women are also anticipating a tough match this weekend. "We just have to take one game at a time," Feeney said. "We are facing two good teams this weekend, but hopefully we can carry this momentum over from last weekend and finish off this last part of our season strong."
Doyle is excited to play on the road. "We play two very competitive, respectable teams. The Northern game brings extra hype because they are considered our in-state conference rival. They always have large crowds, so I look forward to being a part of another high-energy game."
Freshman Cameron McCaffrey made the buzzer winning shot at home on Saturday, Feb. 13, against the Winona State Warriors.
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