Women's Basketball 1/31/09 -- Augsburg 48, St. Olaf 45
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (1/31/09) -- Augsburg College's Serenae Levine (FY, Eden Prairie, Minn.) posted the first double-double of her Auggie career with an 18-point, 16-rebound effort, as she led the Auggies to a 48-45 win over rival St. Olaf College on Saturday afternoon in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball action at St. Olaf's Skoglund Center.
Augsburg (4-14 overall, 2-13 MIAC) was led by Levine, who led all players with a game-high 18 points while recording a career-high 16 boards, three steals and two assists. Ashley Erickson (FY, Bemidji, Minn.) provided the spark for the Auggies coming off the bench, scoring a career-high seven points and tying a career-high with three rebounds.
St. Olaf (3-15 overall, 1-14 MIAC) was led by the duo of Elyse Erickson (SR, Long Lake, Minn./Orono HS) and Britta Hendrickson (SR, Red Wing, Minn.). Erickson finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds, while Hendrickson chipped in 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the floor.
The Auggies were down 13-5 after the first 9:30 of action, but rallied to take their first lead of the afternoon at 20-19, off a jumper by Levine at the 4:14 mark. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half and the Auggies took a 28-26 lead into the locker room at intermission.
St. Olaf hit the opening jumper of the second half to tie things up at 28-28. Augsburg answered on the next possession with a layup by Lexi Thompson (FY, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS), taking a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the game. The Oles were able to cut the Augsburg lead to two with 27 seconds remaining, but Levine hit a free throw with 17 seconds left to give the Auggies a 48-45 advantage. St. Olaf had a three-point attempt with three seconds left, but was not able to convert as the Auggies hung on to claim their second MIAC victory.
Augsburg shot 29.6 percent (16-for-54) from the field for the game, while the Oles shot 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field. The major difference in the game came down to rebounding, where Augsburg held a 43-27 advantage on the boards.
Augsburg returns to action on Monday (2/2) at 7:30 p.m., when it travels to St. Peter to take on Gustavus Adolphus College.
