Women's Basketball 12/3/03 -- Gustavus Adolphus 67, Augsburg 57 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/3/03) -- Angie Peterson (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) scored 15 points and had four steals and four rebounds, leading Gustavus Adolphus College to a 67-57 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

Selina Theisen (Fr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS), last week's MIAC Player of the Week, had her second straight double-double for Augsburg College, with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Gustavus, ranked No. 12 in the D3hoops.com Division III national poll, is now 2-0 on the season, while Augsburg drops to 0-4 on the year. It was the first MIAC game for both teams.

Augsburg, winners of just four games last season, gave the defending MIAC regular-season co-champion and playoff titlist Gusties all they could handle on Wednesday, rallying from a 12-point first-half deficit to cut the Gustie lead to 28-25 at the break, then holding the lead on three separate occasions in the second half before the Gusties pulled away in the final six minutes. There were seven lead changes and three ties in the game.

Gustavus gained the lead, and the win, largely by taking advantage of Augsburg turnovers. The Auggies had 30 turnovers in the game, and Gustavus scored 32 points off those miscues. By comparison, Augsburg scored just 13 points off of 17 Gustie turnovers.

Three Gusties scored in double figures -- Peterson, Kristin Kachelmeyer (Jr., Mankato, Minn./East HS) with 11 points, eight rebounds and six steals; and Lacy Skoog (Jr., Waconia, Minn.) with 10 points. Laura Haugen (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park HS) had nine points.

In addition to Theisen's double-double, Ashley Vossen (So., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) scored in double-figures, hitting two 3-pointers and scoring 12 points. Julie Andert * (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) had seven points and nine rebounds, while Katie Kelsey (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) had seven points, five rebounds and three steals.

Gustavus jumped on the Auggies early, taking a 12-2 advantage in the first 4:12, eventually leading 23-11 with 9:18 remaining in the first period. But a 10-2 Augsburg run brought the hosts back into the game, trailing 23-21 with 4:29 left in the stanza. Gustavus led by three points at the halftime break.

Out of the break, the Gusties stretched the lead to eight points in the first 5:43, but Augsburg used a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to take their first lead of the game, 46-44 with 9:44 remaining. Theisen had eight points in the Auggie 14-2 run.

A three-pointer by Haugen gave the Gusties a 47-46 lead on the next possession, but the Auggies tied the game and took the lead back on free throws on the next two possessions. The teams exchanged leads again with Augsburg taking its last lead of the game on a jumper by Emily Anderson (So., Hudson, Wis.) with 6:30 remaining, 51-50.

Gustavus outscored Augsburg 17-6 the rest of the way, as Augsburg committed six turnovers and went just 1-of-3 from the field the rest of the way. Meanwhile, Gustavus hit six free throws and connected on 5-of-7 field goals in the closing minutes, with Haugen scoring six points and Kachelmeyer scoring five points in the final 17-6 run.

Gustavus outrebound Augsburg by a 39-37 margin, 18-15 in the second half. In a foul-frenzy game -- with Augsburg committing 24 fouls and Gustavus committing 26 -- Augsburg connected on 22-of-30 free throws (73.3 percent), while Gustavus hit just 14-of-24 from the line (58.3 percent).

Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (12/6) at 1 p.m. with women's/men's basketball doubleheaders, as Augsburg hosts Carleton and Gustavus hosts Concordia-Moorhead. In both doubleheaders, the women's game is at 1 p.m., with the men's game to follow at 3 p.m.