MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team Wednesday traveled to Augsburg and saw their comeback effort fall short as they dropped the contest by a score of 67-61. With the loss the Vikings fall to 1-1 on the season while the Auggies go to 1-0. 

After Aubrea Kor got the scoring started in this one things hit a lull for Bethany, as they were outscored 10-0 over the next three minutes and trailed 10-2 just four minutes in. Augsburg would extend their lead all the way to 13 points at 19-6 with under two minutes to go, but five points from Juliana Ewald to end the frame matched by just one basket from the Auggies made things 21-11 after one quarter.

The Vikings would quickly cut into the lead in the second, opening the quarter on a 7-2 run to bring the deficit to five points. The Auggies would step up defensively from there though as would Bethany, as Augsburg outscored the Vikings 11-6 the last seven-plus minutes of the frame to hold a 34-24 lead at the break. 

In the third quarter Bethany would finally start to cut away at the lead but it wasn't until late in the frame as the Auggies would keep their lead at 11 with 2:45 to go. Four straight free throw makes from the Vikings followed by a three from Ewald would bring the deficit to four with a minute to go with one free throw from Augsburg putting the score at 47-42 headed to the fourth.

Gianna Klarenbeek would knock down a three-pointer on the opening possession of the fourth before finishing a tough and-one in the paint as the Vikings would claim a 48-47 lead just 35 seconds into the fourth quarter of play. Both teams would then go back and forth over the next few minutes, with Kor finishing inside on three straight possessions to put the score at 58-58 with 5:39 to play.

The score would push to a tally of 60-60 with four minutes to play before a Kor free throw gave Bethany a one point edge with 3:45 to go. Unfortunately for the Vikings, that would be the last time they would find the bottom of the net, as the they would go 0-for-6 with five turnovers in the final three minutes and the Auggies would take the 67-61 victory. 

Klarenbeek finished with a team-best 16 points for Bethany in the contest while Kor added 14 and Ewald 11. 

The Vikings will next be in action on Saturday when they host Buena Vista for a 2 p.m. contest.