Women's Basketball 1/3/05 -- St. Thomas 62, Augsburg 50 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/3/05) -- Erica Opdahl (Jr., Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) led all scorers with 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals, as her University of St. Thomas women's basketball team claimed its 39th consecutive win over Augsburg College, a 62-50 triumph in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Monday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Melissa Keiser (So., Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) scored 11 points and Vel Williams (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) had 10 points, five steals and three assists for the Tommies, who broke a two-game losing streak to improve to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in MIAC play.

Augsburg remains winless at 0-8 overall, 0-5 in MIAC play. Augsburg's last victory over St. Thomas came in the 1984-85 season (Jan. 23, 1985).

Despite shooting just 28.6 percent (18-of-63) from the field, the Tommies claimed the win by taking advantage of 38 Augsburg turnovers. St. Thomas converted 26 points off turnovers, compared to 16 for Augsburg. The Tommies also converted 13 second-chance points off of 18 offensive rebounds, despite being outrebounded by Augsburg by a 49-42 margin. St. Thomas also held a substantial advantage at the free-throw line, converting 25-of-42 from the line, compared to 18-of-23 for Augsburg.

A 13-0 run over a six-minute span midway through the first half gave the Tommies the lead for good, 21-7 with 8:10 remaining in the opening stanza. St. Thomas led 32-18 at the break. An 8-0 run in the first four minutes of the second half gave the Tommies their biggest lead, 40-18.

But the Auggies clawed back into the game, using a 14-0 run to trim the advantage to just eight points, 43-35 with 8:40 left. Katie LaGrave (Fr., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) had 10 of her team-high 19 points in the Auggie run.

However, the Tommie advantage never slipped below eight points the rest of the way, as the visitors hit 14 of their last 18 points from the free-throw line over the final eight minutes of play.

LaGrave led the Auggies with a career-high 19 points, her fourth-straight game in double figures. Kristina Lurken (Fr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) scored nine points with five rebounds and three steals, and Rachel Cherry (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) came off the bench to score seven points with nine rebounds. Rosinta Stromquist (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had five points and nine rebounds.

Melissa Gotchnik (So., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) and Molly Miller (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn.) had seven points apiece for the Tommies.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Wednesday (1/5) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Catherine and St. Thomas hosting St. Benedict.