Laura Johnson's layup put USF on the board first and gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead, but Augustana answered with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to quickly claim a 10-2 lead.

After a four minute drought, Vanessa Johnson ended the Vikings scoring run with a momentum changing traditional 3-pt play with 14:60 left in the half.

The Cougars slowly fought back and after consecutive scores from Bailey Bouman and Alyssa Rushton, USF found themselves down just three points at the 8:00 mark.

The two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the first half, but Augustana went to the break on top, 23-20.

USF shot 35.7% from the field and went 3-11 from beyond the arc in the first half, but trips to the free throw line where they converted 7 of 8 attempts kept them in it.

In the second half, the Cougars recognized their jump shots were not falling and readjusted their strategy and attacked the paint, where they outscored the Vikings 24-8.

After going blow for blow with the Vikings, USF reclaimed the lead at the 15:25 mark, when Rushton came up with a big steal and pushed the ball up the floor to an open Laura Johnson for a layup. Johnson's score gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 40-39.

As one would imagine in such a big game, Augustana seemed to have an answer for every USF score, but the Cougars took a five point lead, when Rushton nailed a 12 foot jumper as the shot clock ran down to put USF up 47-42 with 10:43 remaining.

Rushton was at it again a few minutes later, when she went on a 6-0 scoring run, first driving the lane for a tough reverse layup, where she was fouled. After converting the free throw, she knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a seven point lead with four minutes left in the game.

Two free throws by Emily Schulte would cut Augustana's deficit to three with 2:15 left in the game, but the Vikings wouldn't come any closer as tough layups from Jamey Hofer and Laura Johnson would secure a 65-59 win over Augustana.

USF received contributions from nearly the entire roster, as nine players got on the board for the Cougars and four put up nine points or more.

In her first Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge, Alyssa Rushton led USF with 17 points, going 7-8 from the floor and 2-2 from the 3-pt line. She also pulled down six rebounds.

Laura Johnson finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Jamey Hofer contributed 11 points and a team high seven rebounds.

The Cougars return to action Saturday when they travel to St. Cloud, Minn. to match up with St. Cloud State University at 2:00p.m.