Women's Basketball 12/4/06 -- St. Catherine 74, Augsburg 52

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (12/4/06) -- Sarah Schneider scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds, leading the College of St. Catherine to a 74-52 victory over visiting Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Monday night at the Butler Center.

Ashley Busch had 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, and Erin Petrich had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, as St. Catherine improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in MIAC play, its first 5-0 start since the 1979-80 season.

Augsburg, now 0-4 overall and 0-3 in MIAC play, was led by Kristina Lurken * (Jr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS), who had 14 points and five rebounds. Megan Krumrie (So., Elk Mound, Wis.) had 11 points and four rebounds, and Katie LaGrave * (Jr., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.

St. Catherine scored the first 14 points of the game and eventually led 23-6 at the 11:44 mark of the first half. The Wildcats led 38-22 at halftime and pulled out to lead by as many as 28 points down the stretch.

The Wildcats shot 39.2 percent (29-of-74) from the field, including 42.1 percent (16-of-38) in the first half, while the Auggies shot 31.7 percent (19-of-60), including 26.7 percent (8-of-30) in the first half. St. Catherine outrebounded Augsburg by a 48-41 margin and forced 21 turnovers while committing 13.

Marissa Lindback (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) led the Auggies with eight rebounds, and Taylor Ray (So., Two Harbors, Minn.) had two steals.

Rachel Berglund had 10 rebounds for St. Catherine, while Chelsie Kurtenbach had eight points and seven rebounds.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Wednesday (12/6). Augsburg plays at St. Olaf at 7:45 p.m., while St. Catherine hosts Concordia-Moorhead at 7:30 p.m.