Women's Basketball 2/15/06 -- St. Benedict 71, Augsburg 57

BOXSCORE

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (2/15/06) -- Playing in her final regular-season home game, Anna Heikenen (Sr., Edina, Minn.) led her team with 20 points and eight rebounds, as the College of St. Benedict pulled away to score a 71-57 victory over visiting Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Claire Lynch Hall.

Heikenen scored 14 points and had seven rebounds in the first half, as the Blazers took a 36-26 halftime advantage, pulling away to lead by as many as 23 points down the stretch.

With the win, its ninth in a row, St. Benedict improved to 20-4 overall and 16-3 in MIAC play, clinching at least a share of the MIAC regular-season championship.

Augsburg, now 6-18 overall and 4-16 in MIAC play, was led by Katie LaGrave (So., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS), who claimed her second double-double of the season, and fourth of her career, with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The Blazers opened the game by outscoring the Auggies 17-4 over the first 6:46 of play. Augsburg cut the lead to six points at 32-26 with 1:21 left, but the Blazers scored the next 15 points to take a 47-26 lead with 17:00 left in the game.

Jen Dahled (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) collected 11 points for the Blazers, while Darby Noreen (Jr., Avon, Minn./Albany HS) scored 10 points. In all, 12 St. Benedict players saw playing time, with 10 scoring.

Alissa Blood (Jr., Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) scored 16 points and had four assists for the Auggies, while Rosinta Stromquist (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had 10 points and five rebounds.

Augsburg shot 30 percent (18-of-60) from the field, while St. Benedict shot 34.8 percent (23-of-66). However, the Blazers outrebounded the Auggies by a 48-35 margin.

Augsburg closes its season on Saturday (2/18) at 1 p.m. with a game at Macalester, while St. Benedict plays at Gustavus on Saturday at 1 p.m.