St. Joseph, Minn. -  The Saint Benedict basketball team and Augsburg played just last week, and when they met again tonight (Feb. 10), the Blazers took another loss, this time by a score of 61-45.
 
Due to rescheduling, the Blazers found themselves playing for revenge against the team that beat them less than a week ago, this time on their own turf. Unfortunately, the Blazers came up short again. This loss drops the Blazer's record down to 10-11 - putting them under.500 for the first time this season – and 7-11 in the MIAC. This was also the Blazer's fifth straight loss and their fifth straight home loss.
 
In the first half, the Auggies (11-10, 8-10 MIAC) jumped ahead to an early 8-1 lead before the Blazers diminished their lead to only 8-6.  The Auggies then responded with a 14-2 run to put the score at 22-8. The Auggies continued to extend their lead for the last minutes of the half, where they led 31-12.
 
The Blazers struggled offensively in the first half, finishing with just 12 points. Of these 12 points, only four of them were field goals and three of them came from Brianna Barrett (Annandale, Minn.). Morgan Dale (Jamestown, N.D.) and Mattie Lueck (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) accounted for two points, each off of free throws, while Emily Lueck (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) scored the remaining field goal. Defensively, Dale led the way with eight rebounds with Mattie Lueck adding another four.
 
The two teams started the second half going back and forth until the Blazers went on a 12-5 run to bring the Auggies lead down to 51-34. The Auggies finished off the night maintaining this lead until they took the 61-45 win. In the second half, the Blazers stepped up their offense with help from Annie Dittberner (New Prague, Minn.) and Barrett, who both finished the night with eight points. Tish Alexander (Minneapolis) and Dale also added another seven a six points respectively. Defensively, Dale finished the night with 11 rebounds with Alexander and the Lueck sisters all adding another four.
 
The Blazers will be back at home on Wednesday (Feb. 12) to face off against Macalester with hope to break their losing streak and climb back to .500. Played in Claire Lynch Hall at 7:30 p.m., the Blazers will have only two more home games left in the season.