ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Augsburg University women's basketball team hung with the University of St. Thomas for three quarters, but the Tommies pulled away in the final frame, handing the Auggies a 73-54 loss in the program's first-ever appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason championship game. The Auggies now await the possibility of receiving one of the at-large berths to the NCAA Division III national tournament.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: St. Thomas 73, Augsburg 54 
LOCATION: Schoenecker Arena, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 22-5 overall, St. Thomas 25-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The first quarter was a low-scoring affair, with the Tommies leading 15-7 at the close. Augsburg had a strong second quarter, outscoring St. Thomas 18-14 and went into the locker room trailing 29-25 at the intermission. The Auggies cut the Tommie lead to just one on two separate occasions early in the third quarter, but St. Thomas used an 11-1 run midway through the third to extend their lead to double digits. Augsburg scored the final four points of the third to pull the score to 51-45 in favor of the Tommies. The Auggie offense went cold in the fourth quarter and St. Thomas pulled away for the win.
• Tamira McLemore (JR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) led Augsburg with a team-best 19 points, which included a 4-of-8 effort from three-point range. McLemore has scored in double figures in seven straight games and in all but five games this season.
• Leading Augsburg on the boards was Kaezha Wubben (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins HS), who pulled down six rebounds to go along with seven points.
• Jen Masello (FY, Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) provided a nice spark for Augsburg, scoring a career-high nine points to go along with three rebounds and an assist.
• As a team, Augsburg hit 25-of-48 (31.3 percent) from the field, including 7-of-20 (35.5 percent) from three-point range. St. Thomas connected on 25-of-53 from the field (47.2 percent), but was 18-of-29 (62.1 percent) from the free throw line. St. Thomas out-rebounded Augsburg by a 43-27 margin.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg, the No. 2-seed in the six-team MIAC playoffs, made the program's first-ever appearance in the MIAC championship game.
• This season, Augsburg set a school record for victories in a single season (22). Augsburg's 15 wins in MIAC play and its second-place MIAC finish are also program-bests.
• The Auggies will learn if they receive one of the 20 "Pool C" at-large bids to the 64-team NCAA Division III national tournament on Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Central time on an NCAA.com webcast. It would be the first ever NCAA tournament appearance for the Augsburg women's basketball program.

 FOR THE FOES
• St. Thomas was led by Hannah Spaulding, who finished with a 25-point, 17-rebound effort. She was 9-for-12 from the field and added three steals.
• Kaia Porter added 16 points and five rebounds for the Tommies.