NORTH MANKATO, Minn. – The Augsburg University women's basketball team opened its 2023-24 campaign on Wednesday evening, topping Bethany Lutheran College 76-69 in nonconference action.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 76, Bethany Lutheran 69
LOCATION: North Gym, North Mankato, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-0 overall, Bethany Lutheran 0-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Vikings held a narrow edge in the first quarter, outscoring the Auggies 20-18 to take a two-point advantage to the quarter break. Augsburg responded in a big way in the second quarter, scoring 18 unanswered points and outscoring the Vikings 18-2 in total to take a 36-22 lead at halftime.
• Bethany Lutheran narrowly outscored Augsburg in both the third and fourth quarters – 24-22 in the third and 23-18 in the fourth -- but the Auggies managed to maintain their lead throughout and secure the 76-69 win.
• Augsburg knocked down 26 of its 70 attempts from the floor, shooting 37.1% as a team. The Vikings were slightly more efficient, hitting 25 of their 65 shots for a 38.5% performance. The Auggies won the turnover battle by a 22-18 margin, scoring 21 points off turnovers to the Vikings' 14. Augsburg was also the stronger team on the glass, outrebounding the Vikings 48-41 and scoring 16 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds while Bethany Lutheran had just seven second-chance points.
• Anja Smith (SR, Kewaskum, Wis./Saint Mary's Springs HS) led all players in the game with 23 points on 11-of-18 shooting, also pulling down 10 rebounds for the double-double and adding four steals. Kalena Myers (SR, Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) was the second-leading scorer, tallying 18 points and shooting a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe while also contributing six rebounds and four steals. Amira LaDuke (SO, Cass Lake, Minn./Cass Lake-Bena HS) was the only other Auggie to reach double figures in scoring, logging a career-high 10 points on five-of-eight shooting from the field.
• Samaiya Buchanan (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins HS) provided a spark off the bench for the Auggies, scoring seven points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

FOR THE FOES
• The Vikings were led by Gianna Klarenbeek with 15 points while Lexiss Trygg was just behind her with 13 off the bench.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will take a week off before continuing nonconference play at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday (11/18) at 4 pm.