Women's Basketball 1/14/02 -- Augsburg 59, Bethel 58 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/14/02) -- Kelly Chapman (So., Willernie, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) scored 12 points and hit two game-winning free throws with 5.8 seconds left in regulation time, giving Augsburg College a 59-58 win over Bethel College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Monday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 4:30 to improve to 5-9 overall and 4-7 in MIAC play. Bethel drops to 1-13 overall and 1-10 in MIAC play.

Chapman nearly had a double-double, with 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Auggies. Included in her 12-point effort was a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw line, as Augsburg hit 14-of-23 free throws (60.9 percent), including 4-for-4 in the last 4:30.

Augsburg jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, eventually expanding the lead to 10 points, 29-19, with 5:44 left in the first half. But a 13-3 run by Bethel -- with six points from Laura Jacobs (Sr., Wells, Minn./United South Central HS) tied the game at 32-32 at halftime.

Jacobs led the Royal effort with 21 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

The lead changed hands eight times and the game was tied eight times in the second half. The Royals took their final lead of the game at the 6:30 mark, as Bethel went on a 6-0 run, with four points from Kristin Lundeen (Jr., Becker, Minn.), to take a 54-49 lead with 4:30 left.

But Augsburg outscored Bethel 10-4 down the stretch. Megan Wetzell (So., Wells, Minn./United South Central HS) hit two free throws, then got a defensive rebound and evenually hit a bucket to cut the lead to 54-53 with 3:39 left. A Joelle Purcell (So., Annandale, Minn.) layup gave the Royals a 56-53 lead with 2:43 left, but Wetzell answered again for the Auggies, with a jumper with 2:18 left to cut the lead to 56-55.

A Purcell jumper was blocked by Carrie Schwartz * (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) -- one of four she had to go with six rebounds on the night -- and Julie Andert (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) converted with a layup to give the Auggies a 57-56 lead with 1:37 left. However, on Augsburg's next possession, Andert fouled out, and Jacobs hit two free throws with 1:16 left to give the Royals a 58-57 lead.

The teams traded possessions five times in the final minute, with Chapman eventually getting fouled by Jacobs -- her fifth -- with 5.8 seconds left. Chapman hit both free throws to give the Auggies the lead, and a three-point try in the closing seconds by the Royals fell short.

Wetzell had eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Auggies, while Amanda Haugen (Fr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had eight points and four rebounds, and Andert had eight points and seven rebounds. Ashley Sasek (Fr., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had seven points and six steals.

Jen Ahlberg (Fr., Milaca, Minn.) had nine points, seven assists and 10 rebounds for the Royals, with Blakely Teboda (Sr., Elgin, Ill./Larkin HS) hadding nine points and three steals. Stefanie Smith (Fr., Birchwood, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) had seven points, and Lundeen had seven points and five steals.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Wednesday (1/16), Bethel playing at Concordia-Moorhead at 5:30 p.m. and Augsburg playing at Gustavus at 7:30 p.m.