Women's Basketball 1/5/05 -- St. Catherine 71, Augsburg 60

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/5/05) -- Natalie Lyzhoft scored 18 of her team-high 20 points in the second half, as her College of St. Catherine women's basketball team outscored Augsburg College 41-29 in the second stanza, en route to a 70-61 triumph in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Wednesday night at St. Catherine's Butler Center.

Trailing 31-30 at halftime, the host Wildcats used an 11-1 run in the first five minutes of the second half to take a commanding nine-point lead, 41-32. Sarah Schneider had six of her 19 points in the decisive run. Augsburg trimmed the lead to two points, 44-42, at the 9:07 mark, but the Wildcats scored the next 13 points in a row, including two straight three-pointers by Lyzhoft. The Auggies could not trim the lead below nine points the rest of the way.

Schneider had 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Wildcats, now 4-5 overall and 2-4 in MIAC play. She also hit 11-of-16 from the free-throw line. Lyzhoft's 20 points included four 3-pointers, five rebounds and two steals. Kate Bremmer had 12 points, six steals and three rebounds.

Augsburg, which remains winless at 0-9 overall and 0-6 in MIAC play, was paced by Katie LaGrave (Fr., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS), who claimed her fifth straight double-figure scoring game with 25 points, adding 13 points for her first collegiate double-double. LaGrave went 11-of-21 from the field.

Alissa Blood (So., Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) added 11 points and four rebounds, and Kristina Lurken (Fr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had seven points and five rebounds. No other Auggie scored more than four points in the game.

While Augsburg outrebounded St. Catherine by a 50-38 margin, the Auggies were stifled by a significant free-throw differential and turnovers. St. Catherine took advantage of 30 Augsburg fouls and hit 26-of-39 at the free-throw line, while Augsburg had just 9-of-12 from the line. Augsburg also committed 30-plus turnovers for the third time this season, with 32 miscues, which St. Catherine converted into 32 points. Augsburg is averaging 27.2 turnovers per game this season.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (1/8) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg playing at Hamline and St. Catherine playing at Concordia-Moorhead. The Augsburg-at-Hamline game is part of a basketball doubleheader, with the women's game at 1 p.m. and the men's game at 3 p.m.