Box Score Bismarck, ND—Trying to shake off the rust of Christmas break, the University of Mary women's basketball team came up short as it fell to Augustana College Friday night in its first game since Dec. 20. U-Mary (5-5, 3-4 NSIC) gifted Augustana (8-3, 4-3) 28 points via 25 turnovers as the Marauders fell 88-76.
 
In addition to the 25 turnovers, U-Mary missed 11 free throws as it shot just 13-for-24 from the line. 
 
Linda Murray led the Marauders with 20 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Murray also added eight rebounds and a career-high five assists.
 
Shaunteva Ashley of the Vikings led all with scorers 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Ashley also notched four assists and four steals.
 
For the game U-Mary actually outshot Augustana 48 to 44 percent from the field and the two teams each made 29 field goals. However, the Vikings held a commanding advantage from deep going 10-for-25 to the Marauders 5-for-16. Additionally, Augustana scored seven more points than U-Mary at the line going 20-for-28.
 
Despite trailing at half, the Marauders outshot the Vikings 61 to 55 percent. Fifteen first half turnovers and allowing Augustana to go 7-for-14 from deep were key to the deficit. Trailing by as many as 19 with 3:24 left to play in the half, U-Mary went on a 13-5 run to end the half including a buzzer beater from Sudan Saunders to go into the break trailing by just 11.
 
Trailing by 16 with less than 13 minutes left in the game, the Marauders went on a 7-0 run sparked by a pair of three pointers to get the lead to single digits for the first time since early in the first half. U-Mary hung around keeping the game within 13 the remainder of the game and several times threatened, but ultimately fell 88-76.  
 
The Marauders played significantly better defensively in the second half limiting the Vikings to just 33 percent from the field and 27 percent from deep.
 
For the game, U-Mary dominated in the paint holding a 46-24 edge, but Augustana held a 28-16 advantage in points off of turnovers and a 15-9 edge in second chance scoring.
 
Brittney Dietz with 16 and Lindsey Sand with 12 were the only other U-Mary players in double figures for the game. Hannah Larson grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her second consecutive double-digit rebounding performance.
 
U-Mary will be back in action tomorrow evening as it hosts Wayne State College at 4 p.m.

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