Women's Basketball 12/6/06 -- Augsburg 72, St. Olaf 66

BOXSCORE

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (12/6/06) -- Michelle Richter (So., Chaska, Minn.) scored a career-high 23 points -- 19 in the second half -- as her Augsburg College women's basketball team rallied for a 72-66 victory over host St. Olaf College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday night at the Skoglund Center.

Richter scored 11 straight points for the Auggies as part of a 14-7 run, enabling the Auggies to rally from a six-point second-half deficit over a seven-minute span to take the lead to stay, 62-61 with 2:15 left in the game. Richter connected on 6-of-7 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws in the second half for the Auggies.

Meanwhile, teammate Brietta Schluender (So., White Bear Lake, Minn.) had an 11-point stretch of her own, helping the Auggies to rally from a 13-point first-half deficit with a 17-2 run over a nine-minute span, taking their first lead at 29-27 with 2:28 left in the frame. Schluender ended up scoring 13 of her 15 points in the game in the first half, adding a team-high nine rebounds in the game.

Augsburg claimed its first victory of the season, improving to 1-4 overall and 1-3 in MIAC play. St. Olaf is now 0-7 overall, 0-4 in MIAC play.

Danielle Stoermer (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) led the Oles with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Christina Sampson (Sr., North Branch, Minn.) had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Kelsey Oja (So., Melrose, Minn.) had nine points and Mary Klein garn (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Minnehaha Academy HS) had eight points and seven rebounds.

Augsburg had four players score in double figures. Katie LaGrave * (Jr., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) connected on three 3-pointers and scored 15 points with five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Kristina Lurken * (Jr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) collected 10 points, seven assists and five steals. Megan Krumrie (So., Elk Mound, Wis.) claimedsix points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

As a team, Augsburg shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the free-throw line, while St. Olaf hit 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field and 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the free-throw line. St. Olaf outrebounded Augsburg by a 43-38 span.

Augsburg has its last action before the holiday break on Friday (12/8) at 7 p.m., with a nonconference game at Division II Minnesota State Mankato. St. Olaf is idle until after the holiday break, playing at St. Mary's on Jan. 3 at 7:45 p.m.