Kayleigh Wieska

Box Score

Carthage CARTH 9-17,5-11 CCIW

Augustana (IL) AUGIE 18-8,11-5 CCIW

Carthage CARTH

9-17,5-11 CCIW

Final

Feb. 21, 2023

Augustana (IL) AUGIE

18-8,11-5 CCIW

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Carthage CARTH	15	7	10	18	50
Augustana (IL) AUGIE	20	17	16	15	68

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/21/2023 9:40:00 PM

Season Comes to an End in Rock Island Against No. 3 Vikings

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The third-seeded Augustana Vikings showed tonight why they earned home-court advantage in the first round of the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament, taking down the sixth-seeded Carthage Firebirds by a score of 68-50. The Vikings now move on to the tournament semifinals, as Carthage's season comes to an end.

Final score: No. 3 Augustana (Ill.) 68, No. 6 Carthage 50.
Location: Roy J. Carver - Rock Island, Illinois.
Records: No. 6 Carthage 9-17 (5-11 CCIW), No. 3 Augustana 18-8 (11-5 CCIW)

Ayanna Ester ripped a three to open up the scoring for Carthage on its first possession.
After Carthage went ahead 5-2 on a pair of free throws from Morrissey, Augustana rattled off an 11-0 run to take an early 13-5 lead. An excellent stint for Alyssa Orozco off the bench whittled the deficit to two before a Viking three-pointer stretched the lead back to five. Augustana led 20-15 after one quarter.
Carthage failed to score for 4:20 to open the second quarter as the host team scored six unanswered, grabbing its largest lead of the night at 11. The Firebirds' defense executed well for the first half of the second quarter, holding Augustana to only six points.
Augustana took advantage of an offensive drought from Carthage by scoring another six unanswered points, taking a sizable 16-point lead with just under three minutes to go in the quarter.
Consecutive three-pointers from senior Ayanna Ester brought the Viking-lead back down to ten before another five points in eight seconds reasserted a 15-point margin in favor of the higher seed.
Five points in 20 seconds for Margueret Spear chiseled the deficit to 12 but another solid stretch for Augustana ballooned the lead to 22 at the 2:47 mark of the quarter. The Vikings led 53-32 at the end of the third quarter.
The two teams traded baskets throughout the duration of the final quarter, but Carthage was unable to generate enough stops defensively to close the gap. The third-seeded Vikings defeated Carthage and will move on to the CCIW Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals.
The Firebirds were outscored in the paint, on second-chance baskets, on turnovers, and off the bench by Augustana in the loss.

In her final game as a Firebird, Ayanna Ester played sensationally. The senior drilled four threes on seven attempts, scoring 18 points and gathering five rebounds tonight. Ester finished the season having made 51 three-pointers, converting 35% of her attempts. The Pleasant Prairie native and Kenosha Tremper graduate averaged a career-best in points this season with 8.5.
First-year athlete Alyssa Orozco was effective once again off the bench, scoring nine points in ten minutes on 3-5 shooting.
In her final game in a Carthage uniform, CCIW RESPECT Award winner Jayden Davis took the court - collecting a rebound.