Women's Basketball 1/20/03 -- St. Catherine 72, Augsburg 60 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/20/03) -- Kate Stodolka (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) led all scorers with 22 points, adding five assists and four rebounds, as the College of St. Catherine used a first-half run to score a 72-60 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Monday night at Si Melby Hall.

Stodolka was one of three Wildcats to score in double figures, as St. Catherine improved to 8-6 overall and 5-6 in MIAC play. Through 14 games, St. Catherine has already eclipsed last season's 7-18 win total. Augsburg dropped its fourth game in a row to fall to 4-10 overall and 3-8 in MIAC play.

The key point of the game came midway through the first half, as St. Catherine outscored Augsburg 22-6 over a six-minute span, taking a commanding 36-19 advantage with 6:43 left in the first half. Holly Wiste (So., Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) had seven points in the run, while Jen Gruenhagen (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) came off the bench to score six points.

After the run, Augsburg was able to cut the Wildcat lead under 10 points just four times the rest of the way. St. Catherine led 42-33 at halftime and led by as many as 17 points twice in the second half. St. Catherine also forced 23 Augsburg turnovers, converting them into 22 points. The Wildcats had 15 turnovers in the game.

Augsburg rebounded St. Catherine by a 42-32 margin, but St. Catherine hit 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field, compared to just 35.7 percent (20-of-56) for the Auggies.

Natalie Lyzhoft (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points for the Wildcats, adding six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Katie Jones (Jr., Alpha, Minn./Martin County West HS) had 10 points.

Augsburg was led by Britni Morgan (Jr., Brooklyn Center, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS), who had 13 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Katie Kelsey (So., Burnsville, Minn.) had eight points and eight rebounds.

Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS), Shannon Spears (Sr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) and Alicia Pratt (Jr., Duluth, Minn./Duluth Central HS) had seven points apiece for the Auggies. Julie Andert * (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) led all players with 11 rebounds, scoring six points.


Both teams return to MIAC action on Wednesday (1/22) at 7:30 p.m. Augsburg hosts Gustavus Adolphus at Si Melby Hall, while St. Catherine plays at Macalester.