Women's Basketball 12/6/08 -- St. Catherine 82, Augsburg 55

MINNEAPOLIS (12/6/08) -- After leading 28-25 at halftime, Augsburg College was not able to hold off a high scoring College of St. Catherine offense, as the Wildcats cruised to an 82-55 victory over the Auggies in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. With the win, St. Catherine moves to 5-0 overall (2-0 MIAC), while Augsburg drops to 2-3 overall (0-2 MIAC).

Augsburg was led by Michelle Richter (SR, Chaska, Minn.) and Christa Suedbeck (SR, Hugo, Minn./White Bear Lake HS). Richter scored a season-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while shooting 6-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. Suedbeck posted her second double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

St. Catherine was led by Brooke Hakanson (SR, Wheeler, Wis./Boyceville HS) and Laura Kalbfell (SO, Lakeville, Minn.). Hakanson scored a game-high 20 points, while Kalbfell posted 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Augsburg came out strong, starting the game on a 9-2 run. St. Catherine would tie things up 13-13 at the 11:03 mark but the Auggies would regain the lead off a layup by Richter on the next possession. Augsburg built its largest lead of the afternoon, an eight point advantage, off a layup by Ashley Thoeny (JR, Golden Valley, Minn./Hopkins HS) with 7:27 left in the first half. After holding a potent St. Catherine offense to just 29.4 percent shooting from the field, the Auggies took at three-point lead into the locker room at the half.

St. Catherine came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, going on a 28-1 run over the first nine minutes. Augsburg was not able to overcome the early run as St. Catherine cruised to an 82-55 victory. For the game, Augsburg shot 30.9 percent (21-of-68) from the field and collected 15 steals. St. Catherine shot 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from the three-point line. The Auggies out-scored the Wildcats in second-chance points 11-2 but were out-scored 43-10 in points off turnovers.

Augsburg returns to action on Monday (12/8) at 7:30 p.m., when it hosts the University of St. Thomas at Si Melby Hall.