Augsburg had not beaten the Tommies in women's basketball since a 62-54 victory on Jan. 23, 1985 at St. Thomas. Augsburg is now 5-14 overall, 3-12 in MIAC play, while St. Thomas is now 9-10 overall, 6-8 in MIAC play.
Rosinta Stromquist (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Auggies, recording her second double-double of the season.
Michelle Richter (Fr., Chaska, Minn.) went 6-for-6 from the field in the second half, scoring all her 14 points in the second stanza. She added nine rebounds. Katie LaGrave (So., Okinawa, Japan/Kadena HS) also had 14 points, going 5-or-8 from the field and 4-of-4 from three-point range, and Kristina Lurken (So., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) had 13 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Jacci Mattern (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) and Alissa Blood (Jr., Mounds View, Minn./Irondale HS) had eight points apiece, with Blood adding four assists and four steals.
St. Thomas was led by Erica Opdahl (Sr., Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS), who had 25 points and nine rebounds. Anna Swanson (Fr., Richfield, Minn./Holy Angels HS) had 13 points and seven rebounds, Melissa Keiser (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) had 12 points and Chelsea Wirtz (Fr., Waukee, Iowa/Dowling HS) had nine points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Trailing 18-16 with 9:30 left in the first half, St. Thomas went on a 18-5 run to claim its largest lead of the game, 34-23 with 3:30 left in the stanza. But Augsburg trimmed the lead on a 10-1 run, keyed by two 3-pointers from LaGrave and four points from Lurken, to trail 35-33 at halftime.
There were seven lead changes and six ties in the game. A 9-1 run midway through the second half gave Augsburg its largest lead of the game, 67-58 with 5:27 left to play. The Auggie advantage did not dip below five points the rest of the way.
Augsburg hit 23-of-33 from the free-throw line (69.7 percent), compared to 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) for the Tommies. St. Thomas hit 12-of-27 from beyond the three-point arc, led by Keiser's four, while Wirtz and Swanson had three apiece.
Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (2/4) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Catherine and St. Thomas hosting St. Benedict.
University of St. Thomas vs Augsburg College 02/01/06 5:45 p.m. at Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. At Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. AUGSBURG COLLEGE 80, UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS 74 UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS (9-10, 6-8 MIAC) Erica Opdahl 9-18 6-10 25; Anna Swanson 4-8 2-2 13; Melissa Keiser 4-14 0-0 12; Chelsea Wirtz 3-9 0-0 9; Dee Prioleau 3-7 2-4 8; Tasha Byers 3-7 0-0 7; Brittany Mrosak 0-4 0-0 0; Shara Guidry 0-4 0-0 0; Shelly McCumber 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 10-16 74. AUGSBURG COLLEGE (5-14, 3-12 MIAC) Rosinta Stromquist 6-12 9-12 21; Katie LaGrave 5-8 0-0 14; Michelle Richter 6-7 2-2 14; Kristina Lurken 2-12 9-14 13; Jacci Mattern 3-6 2-2 8; Alissa Blood 3-11 1-2 8; Brietta Schluender 1-3 0-1 2; Marissa Lindback 0-0 0-0 0; Noreen Hogan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 23-33 80. University of St. Thomas...... 35 39 - 74 Augsburg College.............. 33 47 - 80 3-point goals-University of St. Thomas 12-27 (Melissa Keiser 4-10; Chelsea Wirtz 3-7; Anna Swanson 3-4; Tasha Byers 1-2; Erica Opdahl 1-1; Shara Guidry 0-1; Brittany Mrosak 0-2), Augsburg College 5-13 (Katie LaGrave 4-4; Alissa Blood 1-6; Kristina Lurken 0-2; Rosinta Stromquist 0-1). Fouled out--University of St. Thomas-None, Augsburg College-None. Rebounds-University of St. Thomas 46 (Erica Opdahl 9), Augsburg College 44 (Rosinta Stromquist 12). Assists-University of St. Thomas 21 (Chelsea Wirtz 8), Augsburg College 18 (Kristina Lurken 7). Total fouls-University of St. Thomas 23, Augsburg College 13. A-252.