Women's Basketball 1/15/03 -- St. Mary's 50, Augsburg 45 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/15/03) -- Jamie Rattunde (So., Rollingstone, Minn./Winona HS) scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds and had four steals, as St. Mary's University claimed a 50-45 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

In a game that featured 48 turnovers -- 30 by Augsburg, 18 by St. Mary's -- neither team had a solid game in any category. However, St. Mary's had three players score in double figures to hold off a late Augsburg charge.

The Cardinals won just their second game in their last eight to improve to 4-9 overall, 4-6 in MIAC play. Augsburg lost its second game in a row to fall to 4-8 overall, 3-6 in MIAC play.

Augsburg outrebounded St. Mary's by a 55-27 margin, but could not muster any offensive flow in the contest. Augsburg hit just 29.6 percent (16-of-54) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from beyond the arc.

St. Mary's did not fare any better, hitting just 28.9 percent (13-of-45) from the field and 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from three-point range. However, the Cardinals scored 16 points off Augsburg turnovers and converted when it counted at the free-throw line, hitting 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) at the line, compared to 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) for Augsburg.

Both teams played a sloppy first half, as Augsburg had more turnovers (18) than points (17), leading St. Mary's 17-16 at halftime. The Cardinals had 12 first-half turnovers.

The teams traded leads in the first few minutes of the second half, but the Cardinals slowly pulled away, holding Augsburg scoreless for more than seven minutes in an 11-0 run to take a 29-21 lead with 10:49 remaining. Augsburg then had a run of its own, a 7-0 advantage to trim the lead to 32-30 with 8:35 left.

The Cardinals pulled out to a seven-point edge, 43-36 with 3:07 left, but Augsburg center Alicia Pratt (Jr., Duluth, Minn./Duluth Cenral HS) hit two straight baseline three-pointers to cut the lead to one point, 43-42, with 2:13 left.

However, SMU's Angie Arrington (So., Spring Grove, Minn.) slammed the door on any further Auggie comeback with a three-pointer with 1:17 left to give the Cardinals a 46-42 advantage. Jaimie Lee (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored four points in the final 23 seconds to cement the visitors' victory.

St. Mary's hit 11-of-12 free throws in the final 8:08. Arrington and Lee had 12 points each for the Cardinals.

Augsburg was paced by Pratt, who had 10 points and nine rebounds. Britni Morgan (Jr., Brooklyn Center, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS), Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) and Shannon Spears (Sr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) had seven pionts each, with Sasek adding four steals and Spears pulling down seven rebounds.

Rosinta Stromquist (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had six points and Julie Andert * (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) had nine rebounds.


Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (1/18). Augsburg plays at Concordia-Moorhead at 1 p.m., and St. Mary's plays at St. Catherine at 3 p.m.