Women's Basketball 12/3/07 -- Augsburg 74, St. Catherine 63
CLICK HERE FOR GAME BOXSCORE
CLICK HERE FOR AUGSBURG SEASON STATISTICS
MINNEAPOLIS (12/3/07) -- With four players scoring in double figures, the Augsburg College women's basketball team rallied from a nine-point first-half deficit to claim a 74-63 victory over the College of St. Catherine in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Monday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.
Katie LaGrave * (SR, Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) scored 15 points with seven rebounds -- 12 points and five rebounds in the second half -- to lead Augsburg. Kristina Lurken * (SR, Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) scored 12 points with four rebounds and three assists, Shannon Renne (FY, Nicollet, Minn.) scored 11 points with five rebounds and Melanie Wigen (FY, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) scored 10 points with seven assists and three steals.
Augsburg is now 4-2 overall, 2-1 in MIAC play, its best start to a season after six games since the 1984-85 campaign (4-2 start, ended 13-11 overall).
St. Catherine (2-3 overall, 1-2 MIAC) was led by Rachel Berglund (SR, Dawson, Minn.), who scored 15 points with five rebounds. Emily Wigfield (SO, North St. Paul, Minn.) scored 13 points with six rebounds.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early advantage, pulling ahead by nine points, 29-20 with 9:07 to play in the first half. However, Augsburg was able to trim the advantage to one point at halftime, 37-36.
An 11-0 run over a 5:37 span in the second half -- with Renee scoring five points and Wigen scoring three points -- gave Augsburg a 56-44 lead with 9:14 left. St. Catherine trimmed the lead to five points, 61-56, with 4:31 left, but Augsburg again extended the lead down the stretch to as many as 13 points. Augsburg hit 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 3:30 of play.
Augsburg outrebounded St. Catherine by a 51-37 margin in the game, with Christa Suedbeck (JR, Hugo, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) collecting a game-high 13 rebounds, to go along with three blocked shots. Suedbeck, a transfer from NAIA school Minot State (N.D.), has recorded double-digit totals in rebounds in four of her six games as an Auggie.
Michelle Richter (JR, Chaska, Minn.) had eight points and eight rebounds for the Auggies, while Megan Krumrie (SR, Elk Mound, Wis.) scored six points with three rebounds.
Ashley Busch (SR, Fairfax, Minn.) scored eight points with six rebounds for the Wildcats, while Brooke Hakanson (JR, Wheeler, Wis.) scored seven points with six rebounds and two steals. Jenna Olson (SO, Pine City, Minn.) and Chelsie Kurtenbach (SO, Boyd, Minn.) scored five points apiece.
Augsburg returns to action on Wednesday (12/5) at 7:30 p.m. with a game at St. Olaf. St. Catherine returns to action on Saturday (12/8) at 3 p.m. with a game at Concordia-Moorhead.
