Women's Basketball 1/14/04 -- St. Mary's 60, Augsburg 53

BOXSCORE

WINONA, Minn. (1/14/04) -- Ashley Luehmann netted 26 points on 9 of 18 shooting --Â including a sizzling 5-for-9 from beyond the three-point line -- to lead St. Mary's University to a 60-53 win over Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at the SMU Gym.

Teammate's Luehmann and Jamie Rattunde combined for 45 of SMU's 60 points, as Rattunde chipped in 19 points and 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, leading St. Mary's to a 7-5 overall record, 6-3 in MIAC play.

Freshman center Selina Theisen (Fr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) notched her seventh double-double of the season and third in her last four games for Augsburg (2-10 overall, 2-7 MIAC), scoring a career-high 29 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. Theisen has now scored in double-figures in her last 11 straight games and has scored 20 or more points in six games, including the last three in a row.

St. Mary's jumped out to a commanding 41-24 halftime advantage, then hung on for the seven-point win. The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field (15-for-37) in the first half and forced the Auggies into 19 first-half turnovers en route to their commanding halftime advantage.

Augsburg committed 31 turnovers in the game, with the Cardinals converting 21 points off turnovers, compared to just three points for Augsburg on 15 SMU miscues.

SMU pushed that lead to 20 points, 46-26, in the first minute of the second half, but a 12-3 Augsburg run cut the gap to 11 with 10 minutes remaining, and the Auggies whittled it down to seven twice, but could get no closer in falling for the fifth time in their last six games.

Augsburg, with an injury-riddled lineup without two starters, received solid contributions from Ashley Vossen (So., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS), who had eight points, eight rebounds and three steals. Missy Larson (So., Pine Island, Minn.) and Ashley Sasek (Jr., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had six points apiece.

Both teams return to action on Saturday (1/17) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg hosting Concordia-Moorhead and St. Mary's hosting St. Catherine.