ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- The No. 14-ranked Augsburg University women's basketball team came up just a basket short as the Auggies fell 72-70 to rival No. 9-ranked Bethel University in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Robertson Center.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Bethel 72, Augsburg 70 
LOCATION: Robetson Center, Arden Hills, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 22-5 overall, Bethel 26-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The game was a battle from start to finish. The two teams were tied at the half, tied after the third quarter and neither team was able to pull away as the game went down to the final seconds. A Tamira McLemore (SR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) layup with 19 seconds to go brought the score to 68-66. Augsburg fouled and Bethel made both free throws to make it a four-point game. Camryn Speese (SR, Bloomington, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) made a layup to make the score 70-68 with 14 seconds to play. Bethel made two more free throws to go up four. The Auggies missed a three-pointer with four seconds left, but got a quick put-back as time was expiring to leave the final score at 72-70.
• Augsburg was led offensively by Jazmyn Solseth (JR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran HS), who finished with team-highs in points (17), rebounds (6), steals (3) and blocks (1). Solseth was 6-of-11 from the field and joined teammate Arianna Jones (SR, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS) playing a team-high 35 minutes. Jones chipped in eight points, four rebounds and three assists before fouling out.
• Due to foul trouble, Camryn Speese (SR, Bloomington, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) only played 12 minutes, but she maximized every second finishing with 14 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the field.
• Also battling foul trouble, Tamira McLemore (SR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) was limited to just 20 minutes. In that time, she put up 14 points, while adding four rebounds and three steals. She was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free-throw line.
• Kaezha Wubben (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins HS) and Jaley Coplin (FY, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) added six points apiece, while Jen Masello (SO, Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) added five points and five boards. 
• Augsburg outshot Bethel, connecting on 46.9 percent (23-of-49), compared to 41.0 percent (25-of-61) for the Royals.
• Bethel posted a 38-26 advantage on the boards.

FOR THE FOES
• The Bethel offense was led by Elizabeth Schwarz, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
• Haylee Barker added an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Royals. 

UP NEXT
• Augsburg now waits to see if it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III national tournament.  bids. The online selection show will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Monday (3/2) at ncaa.com.