Women's Basketball 2/16/05 -- St. Benedict 93, Augsburg 60

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/16/05) -- Anna Heikenen (Jr., Edina, Minn.) claimed a double-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four steals, and Ellie Boone (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) came off the bench to notch a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as the College of St. Benedict cruised to a 93-60 win over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

Justine Richels (Jr., Breckenridge, Minn.) hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points, and Kim Johnson (Sr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Blazers, now 18-4 overall, 15-4 in MIAC play.

Playing in their final collegiate games, Katie Kelsey (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) scored 14 points and Amy Jones (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Minneapolis South HS) had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots for Augsburg, which finishes its season 4-19 overall, 4-16 in MIAC play.

St. Benedict outscored Augsburg 17-8 in the first eight minutes of play, then used a 20-4 run to take a commanding 37-12 lead with 7:01 left. The Blazers led by 18 points, 47-29 at halftime, and then used a 15-2 run in the first 5:15 of the second half to pull comfortably ahead, 62-31. The Blazers led by as many as 36 points down the stretch.

St. Benedict forced 27 Augsburg turnovers and converted them into 30 points, while also converting 20 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. Meanwhile, the Auggies could score just 16 points off of turnovers and just two second-chance points off of its 13 offensive rebounds. The Blazers also hit nine 3-pointers to Augsburg's one, and dominated at the free-throw line, hitting 22-of-33 compared to just 7-of-11 for Augsburg. The Blazers outrebounded Augsburg by a 49-37 margin.

Fourteen Blazers saw playing time and 11 scored. Brittni Nickel (Fr., Sanborn, Minn./Red Rock Central HS) scored nine points, Tara Schloe (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo HS) had eight points and four steals, and Katie Kempe (So., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Judy Falvey (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) had six points each.

All 12 Auggies also saw playing time and 11 scored. Kristina Lurken (Fr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) scored 11 points and added six assists and four steals, Rosinta Stromquist (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had nine points and seven rebounds, and Rachel Cherry (Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) had eight rebounds and five assists to go with four points.

St. Benedict hosts Gustavus in its final regular-season game on Saturday (2/19) at 1 p.m. Augsburg's scheduled game with Macalester on Saturday has been cancelled, after Macalester cancelled the remainder of its season in December.