Women's Basketball 12/7/02 -- Carleton 58, Augsburg 38 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/7/02) -- Carleton College scored the first 15 points of the game, then withstood an early second-half Augsburg College rally to cruise to a 58-38 victory in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

The Knights, ranked 13th in the D3hoops.com NCAA Division III national poll, remained unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in MIAC play. Augsburg drops to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in MIAC play, losing its fourth straight game.

Carleton jumped out to a 15-0 lead over the first 6:10 of the game, as the Knights hit their first six of 10 field goals, while Augsburg went 0-for-6 and committed five turnovers in the same span. Augsburg did not score until the 13:30 mark.

The Knights continued to expand the lead in the first half, leading by at least 22 points. Augsburg did not crack the double-digit mark until the 1:51 mark of the half, and trailed 31-13 at halftime.

Just as Augsburg went cold at the start of the game, Carleton went cold at the start of the second half. The Knights did not score over the first seven minutes of the second half, as Augsburg used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to eight points, 31-23 with 13:01 left.

But the Auggies could not cut the lead any further, as Carleton used a 20-2 run over the next seven minutes to pull away. Carleton led by as many as 27 points down the stretch.

Fourteen Knights saw game action, and 12 scored, in a system that saw frequent substitutions from Carleton coach Tammy Metcalf-Fitzen.

Linnea Engel (Jr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) led the Knights with nine points and seven steals, while Kristi Colbenson (So., Rushford, Minn./Rushford-Peterson HS) had nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

Beth Freeman (So., Richfield, Minn.) and Megan Vig (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) had seven points and four rebounds apiece.

Augsburg was paced by Katie Kesley (So., Burnsville, Minn.), who hit four 3-pointers to score 12 points. She also led the Auggies with six rebounds and three assists. Kelly Chapman * (Jr., Willernie, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) had nine points, Shannon Spears (Sr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) had six points and Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had five points and six steals.

Both teams return to action on Monday (12/9) at 7:30 p.m., Augsburg playing at Macalester and Carleton playing at St. Catherine.