Women's Basketball 1/29/03 -- Macalester 67, Augsburg 47 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/29/03) -- Afton Hanson (Jr., Karlstad, Minn./Tri-County HS) led all scorers with 18 points, and teammate Emily Koller (Sr., Greybull, Wyo.) had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, leading Macalester College to a 67-47 triumph over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

Macalester used a 22-4 run over a nine-minute span in the first half to take a commanding 38-20 lead at halftime, then held off an Augsburg comeback midway through the second half to improve to 2-15 overall and 2-12 in MIAC play, breaking a six-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Augsburg's losing streak has reached a season-long seven games, in falling to 4-13 overall and 3-11 in MIAC play.

Macalester dressed just seven players for action on Wednesday, and all seven made an impact on the game. Four Scots scored in double figures. In addition to her game-high 18 points, Hanson went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line and pulled down six rebounds. Sarah Jacoby (Jr., Mulberry, Ind./Clinton Prairie HS) nearly had a double-double, with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Sarah Hesch (Sr., Rabat, Morocco/Rabat American School) had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The 22-4 first-half run gave the Scots the lead to stay. Jacoby had nine points to lead the Scots in the run.

Trailing by 17 points with 15:46 left in the second half, Augsburg mounted a comeback, outscoring Macalester 16-2 over the next seven minutes to cut the lead to three points, 45-42 with 8:31 left. Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) and Katie Kelsey (So., Burnsville, Minn.) had five points apiece in the Auggie run.

But as soon as the Auggies came back, the Scots slammed the door on the hosts. Macalester outscored Augsburg 22-3 the rest of the way, holding Augsburg without a field goal for the final 6:30 and without a point for the last 2:47. Koller and Hanson had seven points each in the closing run.

Kelsey led the Auggies with 12 points, while Sasek had 11 points, three assists and three steals. Rosinta Stromquist (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had 10 points and a season-high nine rebounds. Julie Andert * (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) had seven points and five rebounds before leaving the game midway through the second half with an ankle injury.

Macalester outrebounded Augsburg by a 46-34 margin and converted on its 16 offensive rebounds, with 21 second-chance points in the game compared to Augsburg's six on 15 offensive rebounds.

Macalester went 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) from the line, compared to just 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from the line for the Auggies. Augsburg was held to a cold shooting night, as the Auggies managed just 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, including a 12.0 percent (3-for-25) from beyond the three-point arc. Meanwhile, Macalester hit 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the field.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (2/1), with Macalester playing at Concordia-Moorhead at 1 p.m., and Augsburg playing at St. Benedict at 3 p.m.