ST. PAUL, Minn.  – Fueled by a dominant offensive performance in the third quarter, the Augsburg University women's basketball team defeated Macalester College 67-51 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Monday evening to clinch its first-ever MIAC regular season title.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 67, Macalester 51
LOCATION: Leonard Center, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 18-5 overall (18-2 MIAC), Macalester 8-16 overall (6-15 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg got off to a hot start, grabbing an 8-2 lead at the seven-minute mark. The Auggie lead remained between three and seven through the rest of the first, closing the quarter with a 16-11 advantage. The Scots kept themselves in the game in the second quarter, tying the game up at 24 with 1:22 remaining. After an Augsburg triple and a Macalester layup, the Auggies took a 27-26 lead into the locker room.
• The Auggie offense erupted in the third, outscoring Macalester 24-12 to take a 13-point lead into the fourth. The lead never dropped below 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Auggies cruised to their third straight win.
• Jen Masello (SR, Darien, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) led Augsburg with 17 points on eight-of-15 shooting, also grabbing six boards, two assists, a block, and a steal.
• Jaley Coplin (JR, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) had another strong outing, notching 15 points on four-of-nine shooting with all four makes coming from beyond the arc. She added six rebounds and an assist.
• Selena Lor (SR, Winona, Minn./Winona HS) had a team-high eight rebounds and scored 11 with three steals for the Auggies. Anja Smith (SO, Kewaskum, Wis./Saint Mary's Springs HS) was the only other Auggie in double figures with 11 points and five rebounds.
• The Auggies outrebounded the Scots 42-34 and outscored them 34-22 in the paint, 11-6 off turnovers, 8-1 in fast break points, and 12-7 in second chance points.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Following the game, both Masello and Smith rank within the top five in several categories of the MIAC overall statistics rankings. Masello ranks second in rebounds per-game (9.1) while Smith ranks second in points per-game (16.5), fifth in rebounds per-game (7.1), and fourth with a field goal percentage of 51.4%. Coplin currently sits fifth in the conference with a three-point field goal percentage of 37.7%.
• Augsburg's 18 wins so far this season are the third-most in school history, having finished with 22 wins in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
• With the win, the Auggies clinched their first-ever MIAC regular season title and will now be the top seed in the MIAC playoffs regardless of the outcome in Wednesday night's regular season finale.
• The MIAC championship will be head coach Ted Riverso's sixth MIAC title, having previously won five while he was the head coach at St. Thomas (1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998).

FOR THE FOES
• Solana Cushing was the scoring leader for the Scots with 16 points and three rebounds.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will wrap up their regular season at Concordia-Moorhead on Wednesday (2/16) at 5:15 p.m.