MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team bounced back from a tough loss at St. Thomas Wednesday with a 63-56 win at Augsburg Saturday afternoon. The game was tied at halftime in Minneapolis, but the Blazers were able to grab a slim lead in the third quarter, and held onto that lead in the fourth.
Saint Benedict is now 10-5 overall and tied for third in the MIAC with a 5-3 conference record. The Auggies are 8-7 overall and 3-5 in the league. Saint Mary's still leads the MIAC with a 7-1 mark, and Gustavus and the Tommies are 6-2. The Blazers, Bethel, Concordia and St. Olaf are all 5-3.
After a close start to the game,
Annie Dittberner hit a three to spark a 10-2 CSB run to give the Blazers a 17-8 lead with 19 seconds left in the first. Augsburg cut the gap to four thanks to a three-point play and late basket, and the Auggies started the second quarter on an 8-1 run to go up 21-18 midway through the quarter.
A basket by
Ke'Avae Taylor and a pair of free throws from
Kate Banovetz stopped the run, but CSB was never able to pull away, and the score was tied at 28 at halftime.
Chelsey Guetter started the scoring in the third, and after a back-and-forth start to the quarter, Dittberner hit a three to put CSB up seven, 43-36, with 4:10 left in the third. The Blazers led 50-46 at the end of the quarter, and the Auggies tied the game at 50 early in the fourth. A layup from
Niki Fokken gave CSB a 57-56 lead with just under four minutes to play, and free throws from Dittberner and
Alison Newton gave the Blazers some breathing room en route to the win.
Dittberner finished with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead CSB. Guetter added 10 points and seven rebounds, Newton had nine points and nine assists and
Macy Kelly added nine points and nine rebounds. The Blazers shot 48 percent from the field, went 11-for-19 from the line and had 38 rebounds and 16 turnovers.
Jessica Lillquist and Alaina Quaranta each had 15 points for the Auggies and Maria Loughlin added 10. Jenna Orth led the team with six rebounds. Augsburg shot 38.7 percent from the field and didn't hit any 3-pointers, but went 8-for-13 from the line. The Auggies had 34 rebounds and 11 turnovers.
CSB is back on the road Wednesday, Jan. 20, when it takes on Gustavus at 7 p.m. in St. Peter, Minn.
