Women's Basketball 1/5/04 -- Bethel 62, Augsburg 54

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/5/04) -- Anna Cunningham led Bethel College with 17 points and six rebounds, as the Royals held off a late surge from host Augsburg College to score a 62-54 win in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Monday night at Si Melby Hall.

Heather Davis added eight points and nine rebounds for the Royals, now 4-5 overall and 2-4 in MIAC play. Augsburg dropped its third game in a row to fall to 1-8 overall, 1-4 in MIAC play.

Selina Theisen (Fr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) continued her outstanding freshman season for the Auggies with her fifth double-double in nine games, scoriong 14 points and adding 10 rebounds, while Julie Andert * (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) had 18 points and eight rebounds.

Augsburg fell behind early, as the Royals scored the first 13 points of the game before the Auggies finally scored on a three-pointer by Alissa Blood (Fr., Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) with 12 minutes left in the first half. Emily Uzpen scored six of her eight points in the game in the initial 13-0 run. Augsburg slowly rallied back into the game, cutting the lead to 26-19 at halftime.

A 17-12 stretch by the Auggies eventually cut the lead to 38-36 with 12:30 left, and Augsburg tied the game at 43-43 with 7:54 remaining. The Auggies took their first lead of the game on Blood's second 3-pointer of the contest, giving the Auggies a 50-49 advantage with 5:26 left. It was the only lead the Auggies would have in the game, however, as Bethel outscored the Auggies 12-4 in the final minutes. Cunningham had seven points for the Royals in the final run.

Bethel hit 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field, while Augsburg hit 31.3 percent (20-of-64). Bethel outrebounded the Auggies 44-43.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday (1/7) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg playing at Hamline and Bethel hosting St. Olaf.