Women's Basketball 1/19/04 -- Augsburg 82, St. Catherine 81 (OT)

BOXSCORE

Katie Kelsey (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) hit the game-winning shot with one second remaining in overtime, giving Augsburg College an 82-81 victory over the host College of St. Catherine in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Monday night at the Butler Center gym.

Freshman center Selina Theisen (Fr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) led the Auggies with her ninth double-double of the season and fifth in her last six games for Augsburg, now 3-11 overall, 3-8 in the MIAC. She claimed her fourth straight double-double with 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, to go with four blocked shots. Theisen has now scored in double-figures in her last 13 straight games and has scored 20 or more points in eight games, including the last five in a row.

Kelsey had 12 points and six rebounds for the Auggies, who broke a two-game losing streak with the victory. After starting the season 1-9, Augsburg has won two of its last four games.

Augsburg won despite giving up an 18-point second-half lead and committing 29 turnovers -- and 23 points off those turnovers by the Wildcats, now 5-9 overall and 3-8 in MIAC play.

Theisen had six of Augsburg's 11 points in the overtime session, while St. Catherine scored 10 points, including three-pointers by Kate Bremmer and Katie Jones. Trailing 80-76 with 2:14 left, the Wildcats took an 81-80 lead on a three-pointer by Jones with 1:56 left and a layup by Sarah Schneider with 29 seconds remaining. Augsburg took two time outs on its last possession, with 20 seconds left and six seconds left, before Kelsey hit the game-winner.

A 13-0 run early in the first half gave Augsburg its first double-digit lead, 17-5 with 11:50 remaining in the period. Augsburg eventually stretched the lead to 28-10 with 6:45 left in the half, and led 42-28 at the break. Theisen had a double-double in the first half, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Aili Brom-Palkowski (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) scored a season-high eight points off the bench. Missy Larson (So., Pine Island, Minn.) had seven of her nine points in the first half.

Jenna Martin nearly single-handedly kept the Wildcats in the game in the first half, scoring 19 of her team's 28 first-half points. She ended up with a game-high 27 points to go with nine rebounds. She went 15-of-20 at the free-throw line.

The Wildcats slowly rallied back into the game, outscoring the Auggies 43-29 in the second half. A 12-2 lead cut the lead to single-digits, 52-44 with 14:35 remaining in regulation, and another 14-4 run over four minutes cut the Auggie lead to one point, 64-63 with 6:51 left. Michel Weinhagen hit two 3-pointers in the decisive run.

Augsburg took a four-point lead, 71-67, on a three-pointer by Kelsey with 2:29 left, but Jones hit two free throws with 19 seconds left, and after Augsburg missed two free throws, Bremmer hit a jumper with 12 seconds left to force overtime tied at 71-71.

Ashley Sasek (Jr., Waukesha, Wis./Kettle Moraine HS) had 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals for the Auggies, while Ashley Vossen (So., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) had nine points on three 3-pointers. She added nine rebounds.

Natalie Lyzhoft had a double-double for St. Catherine, with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Amy Pommerening had 10 points off the bench. Bremmer scored seven points with five assists and four steals.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday (1/21) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg playing at Gustavus and St. Catherine hosting Macalester.