Riverland forward Krista Viehauser played her last home game Wednesday night and went out in style with a career-high 37 points.
Viehauser and her teammates avenged a defeat earlier in the season to Ridgewater with an 81-73 win in the Minnesota College Athletic Conference, South Division women's basketball game.
"What a way to go out, Krista is explosive offensively and she had a great game," Riverland coach Suzy Hebrink said. "She took over and just dominated against a good team. They beat us by 30-plus points up there. We did a nice job defensively in the first half."
Coming into the game, Viehauser needed only nine points to tie the school scoring mark set a few years ago by Brooke (Monson) DeBoer of 1,043 points. Viehauser got that and more in the first half.
Krissy Schemmel provided the early spark as the Lady Blue Devils of Riverland built a lead. Schemmel had a trio of three-pointers in the first half. The perimeter shots opened up the defense and Viehauser ran right through the Lady Warriors.
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Leading by eight points with seven minutes to play in the first half, the Lady Devils went on a big run to take control of the game. The home team went on a decisive 14-2 run over the next five minutes to break it open.
During that run, Viehauser had eight points. She scored on the drive, grabbed offensive rebounds for putbacks, and even tossed in a few steals. This created chances for the rest of the team as Makenzie Martin scored on the fastbreak and it was a 20-point lead at halftime.
"It's a good thing we made that run, because they were popping threes in the second half," Viehauser said. "With my family in the crowd, it was exciting to score so many points and help the team win."
Points kept coming from Viehauser at the start of the second half. The lead reached a zenith of 22 points, then the Lady Warriors started hitting their outside shots and halved the deficit by the midway point of the second half.
The visitors made it a 10-point game with eight minutes to play. Brooke Rosenstiel stopped the run and gave the Lady Devils a 66-54 lead with 7:36 left. Ridgewater scored, but Robin Arjes countered for Riverland with a pair of free throws.
All of this seemed to calm the comeback of the Lady Warriors, but they didn't quit. Viehauser scored seven straight points to enhance the lead. It appeared to be over when Martin made a pair of free throws for a 79-59 lead with 3:06 on the clock.
Ridgewater came storming back with a 14-0 run, but ran out of time. The lead of the Lady Devils had dwindled to only six points with 18 seconds left, before a basket from Arjes sealed the deal.
The career night of scoring from Viehauser helped the team to a second straight win. Riverland improved to a 4-7 record in the MCAC South.
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"It's really cool to break Brooke's scoring record and great we could keep it among the Austin High girls," Viehauser concluded. "The team has come so far this season and I'm glad we finished strong in the last home game."
Despite the home win, the Riverland women were eliminated from MCAC State Tournament contention when Rochester downed Fergus Falls 72-60 to secure the fourth seed.
Riverland (14-11 overall) finishes the season on the road Saturday afternoon at Fergus Falls.
Riverland 81, Ridgewater 73
RIDGEWATER (73)
Jena Thompson 18, Whitley Strei 17, Kelsey Guetter 13, Hannah Smith 12, Ali Holt 9, Sara Beyer 2, Brianna Jacobson 2.
RIVERLAND (81)
Krista Viehauser 37, Brooke Rosenstiel 11, Robin Arjes 10, Krissy Schemmel 9, Joni Lillo 8, Bridget Bergstrom 2, Makenzie Martin 4.
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Halftime:Riverland 48, Ridgewater 28.
Free throws:RIDGE 21-28, RIV 9-16.
Three-point goals:RIDGE 6-16 (Strei 4, Smith 2). RIV 4-16 (Schemmel 3, Lillo 1).
Rebounds:RIDGE 40 (Holt 7); RIV 45 (Viehauser 17).
Fouled out:RIV, Lillo.
