MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team lost its season opener to Augustana by an 83-65 score on Saturday at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

MSUM fell to 0-1 on the year while Augustana improved to 1-0. The games will not count towards the divisional records of the teams.

Double-Digit Debuts

A pair of freshmen gave MSUM good production off the bench in their collegiate debuts. Freshman guard Karley Motschenbacher had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists while Paige Thompson, a freshman forward, had 10 point and six rebounds. 

Further Inside the Numbers…

Senior guard Sarah Jacobson and junior forward Peyton Boom each led MSUM with 11 points. Jacobson had a team-best seven rebounds while Boom had four steals. Junior center Nicole Brown tied a career-high with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Augustana shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) while MSUM shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59). The Dragons had a 39-28 edge in rebounds.

Third Quarter Was the Difference

The game was close at halftime with Augustana clinging to a 32-31 lead. The third quarter saw the Vikings outscore the Dragon 30-17 to build a 62-48 lead going into the fourth.  The Viking lead grew to 23 points in the fourth before MSUM cut the lead to 15 minutes later.

Short-Lived Lead

MSUM had two one-point leads in the first half for the Dragons' only leads of the contest. The final came at the 1:42 mark of the second quarter at 30-29. The Dragons led for only 1:14 of the game while Augustana led for 37 minutes.

Up Next

The two teams will rematch at 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Elmen Center. No fans will be allowed once again.