Women's Basketball 12/11/02 -- St. Benedict 82, Augsburg 62 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/11/02) -- All five starters scored in double figures, led by Danni Hannon's (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) 19 points, as the College of St. Benedict cruised to an 82-62 win over Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Michelle Barlau (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) added 16 points for the Blazers, who remained unbeaten at 7-0 overall and 5-0 in MIAC play. St. Benedict is ranked fourth in the D3hoops.com NCAA Division III women's basketball national poll. Augsburg drops to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in MIAC play.

After seeing its lead cut to one point, 17-16 with 12:05 left in the first half, St. Benedict used a 17-3 run over an eight-minute span ito take a 34-19 lead with 6:07 left in the stanza. The Blazers did not lead by less than 10 points the rest of the way, pulling ahead to as many as 23 points in the second half.

Ashley Brown (Jr., Edina, Minn.) had 13 points for the Blazers, while Kim Johnson (So., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) and Leah Laurich (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) had 11 points and seven rebounds each. Johnson had two blocks, and Laurich contributed five assists.

Augsburg was paced by Katie Kelsey (So., Burnsville, Minn.), who had 16 points and five rebounds. Kelly Chapman * (Jr., Willernie, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) had 15 points and four rebounds, while Julie Andert * (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Britni Morgan (Jr., Brooklyn Center, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had eight points each, Andert adding five rebounds.

Shannon Spears (Sr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) had six points, and Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had five points, five assists and five steals.

St. Benedict shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field, hitting nine 3-pointers. Augsburg also had a solid shooting night, hitting 46.4 percent (26-of-56) with eight 3-pointers. The difference came in rebounding, where the Blazers outrebounded the Auggies by a 39-24 margin, including 16 offensive rebounds..

St. Benedict hosts Coe (Iowa) in a nonconference game on Saturday (12/14) at 3 p.m., while Augsburg is off for the holiday break. Both teams return to MIAC action on Jan. 4 at 3 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Thomas and St. Benedict hosting St. Mary's.