Women's Basketball 1/30/02 -- Augsburg 66, St. Mary's 64 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/30/02) -- Shannon Spears (Jr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) hit a career-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Augsburg College to a 66-64 victory over St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Spears hit four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half, including three in an 11-0 Augsburg run that gave the Auggies a 45-34 lead with 14:59 left in the game. She hit her fifth 3-pointer at the 5:52 mark, giving Augsburg its biggest lead of the game, 60-47.

However, the Auggies needed every one of those 13 points, as the visiting Cardinals nearly stole the game from the Auggies in the closing minutes. Leading 63-50 with 1:33 left, the Auggies surrendered an 11-1 run, as the Cardinals cut it to 64-61 with 10 seconds left. St. Mary's, forced to foul, put Augsburg to the line four straight times in the 11-1 run, and Augsburg made just one of eight free throws. Meanwhile, the Cardinals scored on each of their five possessions.

But Spears came through in the clutch again for the Auggies, hitting two free throws with five seconds left to give Augsburg a 65-61 lead. A three-pointer by SMU's Stacy Hammel (Sr., Manitowoc, Wis./Valders HS) at the buzzer produced the final margin, two points.

Augsburg is now 7-13 overall and 6-11 in MIAC play, while St. Mary's drops to 11-9 overall and 9-8 in MIAC play. The game was tied eight times and featured five lead changes.

Spears went 5-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc. Her five 3-pointers were the third-most in a single game in school history, a feat matched six times. The school single-game record, seven, was set by Rachael Ekholm in a game against St. Olaf in 1999.

Kelly Chapman (So., Willernie, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) scored 10 points for the Auggies, while Amanda Haugen (Fr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) came off the bench to score 11 points with six rebounds. Allison Illa * (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) had eight points, and Carrie Schwartz * (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) led all players with 11 rebounds, adding two blocked shots.

St. Mary's was paced by Hammel, who had 19 points and eight rebounds. Alissa Erichsen (Sr., Spring Valley, Minn./Kingsland HS) had 11 pointws and six rebounds and Jamie Rattunde (Fr., Rollingstone, Minn./Winona HS) had nine points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Melanie Olson (So., Bird Island, Minn./BOLD HS) had eight points and three assists.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (2/2). Augsburg hosts St. Thomas at 3 p.m., and St. Mary's plays at Bethel at 4:30 p.m.