Women's Basketball 2/3/03 -- St. Thomas 63, Augsburg 44 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/3/03) -- Bridget Fitzgerald (Fr., Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and Molly Miller (Fr., Maple Grove, Minn.) came off the bench to score 11 points each, as the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team cruised to a 63-44 win over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Monday night at Si Melby Hall.

St. Thomas outscored Augsburg 12-1 in the first six minutes, then used a 14-2 run to open the second half to blow the game open, improving to 10-9 overall and 10-6 in MIAC play. The Tommies led from start to finish in the game.

Augsburg dropped to 4-15 overall and 3-13 in MIAC play, losing its ninth game in a row.

Four Tommies scored in double figures and 10 of the 15 players who saw game action scored. Anne Laraway (Jr., St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral HS) had 10 points and seven rebounds, going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Erica Opdahl (Fr., Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) also had 10 points.

St. Thomas dominated on the glass, pulling down 54 rebounds to Augsburg's 33. St. Thomas converted its 18 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points. Christine Williams (Fr., Burnsville, Minn.) had seven rebounds for the Tommies.

Augsburg was plagued by poor shooting -- falling into a first-half hole by shooting just 17.9 percent (5-of-28) from the field -- shooting just 24.1 percent (14-of-58) in the game. The Auggies shot just 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from three-point range. St. Thomas hit 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the field and hit 19-of-25 free throws.

Augsburg was paced by Rosinta Stromquist (Fr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS), who came off the bench to score 11 points and pull down six rebounds, both team highs. Ashley Vossen (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) scored in double digits for the first time in her Auggie career, with 10 points, hiting two 3-pointers. Ashley Sasek (So., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had seven pints, three assists and two steals.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Wednesday (2/5), with St. Thomas playing at Concordia-Moorhead at 5:30 p.m., and Augsburg hosting Bethel at 7:30 p.m.