St. Joseph, Minn. – First-year forward
Niki Fokken had her second double-digit rebound night of the season, but the College of Saint Benedict basketball team lost today, losing 37-47 at the hands of the Augsburg Auggies. The game was the final home game for seniors
Jordan Falk,
Elena Koch and
Emily Lueck.
With the loss, the Blazers fall to 11-13 (8-9) and seventh place in the MIAC. With the win, the Auggies improve to 14-10 (9-8) MIAC and move into sixth place in the conference standings.
The Auggie defense put up a brick wall to start the game, and held the Blazers scoreless from the floor for the first nine minutes of the game. They simultaneously jumped out to a 16-4 lead, with the Blazers only able to score from the free throw line.
The Blazers used three three-pointers to claw back within four with two minutes left, and had cut the Auggie lead to 27-21 at halftime.
The Blazers came out of the locker room in the second half without senior sharpshooter
Emily Lueck, who was resting a shoulder injury. With Lueck out, the Blazers were unable to muster an offensive threat, and shot just 21.4 percent from the floor in the second half.
A layup by sophomore
Alison Newton cut the Augsburg lead to two at 29-27, but that was as close as the Blazers would come to taking the lead. A three-pointer by Auggie forward Marie Fitzgerald with nine minutes to play put the Auggies up by 11. Plagued by a poor night shooting from the floor, the Blazers were never able to claw back, and the Auggies won 47-37.
Junior forward
Mattie Lueck led the Blazers with ten points, the 16
th time she had led the team in scoring this season. Fokken finished with six points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.
The loss also means the Blazers are now mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, as they trail sixth-place Augsburg by one game with one game left, but would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker if the two teams finished with the same record
.
The Blazers final regular-season game will this Saturday against Gustavus. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
