ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team had an answer to almost all of Augsburg University's runs Wednesday night – except in the game's final minutes.
 
Down nine with 3:26 to play, Megan Thompson scored, McKenzie Holgate hit a free throw and Alex Johnson got an offensive rebound and a layup to make it a four-point game, 62-58, with 1:39 to play. A rebound by Sidney Schiffler on a missed Auggie free throw led to a layup from Holgate to make it 64-60 with 39 seconds to play, but Augsburg hit a single free throw, got a turnover on CSB's next possession and hit another free throw to help seal the Auggies' 66-60 win in Claire Lynch Hall.
 
The win snapped CSB's two-game winning streak after a pair of nonconference victories in Nashville last weekend. Saint Benedict is now 5-7 overall and 1-4 in the MIAC.
 
The Auggies (10-2, 5-0) led by eight in the first quarter, but Schiffler scored to spark a 10-0 CSB run that included a pair of free throws and a three-point play from Megan Thompson to put CSB up, 17-15. Augsburg went up two, but Holgate scored on a buzzer-beater to tie things up at 19-19 after one.
 
Maddie Schmitz and Johnson scored early to put CSB up 25-21 with 7:03 left in the second, but the team didn't score again until Schmitz hit a three with 2:30 left and the Auggies led 39-28 at the half. Augsburg pushed its lead to 13, 43-30, early in the third, and led by as many as 16 midway through the quarter. Breanna Gates scored on a three-point play and Holgate hit another last-second shot, but the Auggies still led 54-43 heading into the final quarter.
 
Augsburg scored to start the fourth quarter and push its lead back to 13, 56-43, but Holgate scored to start a
10-2 CSB run that got her team within five, 58-53, with 5:03 left to play. Augsburg pushed its lead back to nine before Saint Benedict started its final push in the last three minutes of play, but the Auggies managed to hold on for the win.
 
Schmitz and Holgate each finished with 14 points, which is just shy of a career-high for Holgate. Johnson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Thompson had nine points and four assists. Saint Benedict finished the game shooting 44.2 percent from the field and going 10-for-18 from the line. CSB had 19 turnovers.
 
Tamira McLemore scored a game-high 15 points for Augsburg and Camryn Speese led the team with six rebounds. The Auggies shot 48 percent from the field and hit seven 3-pointers – six in the first half – and went 9-for-16 from the line. Augsburg held a 37-26 edge on the boards and had 24 turnovers.
 
CSB is on the road for two MIAC games before it plays at home again. Saint Benedict is in St. Paul this Saturday, Jan. 5, when it takes on Macalester at 1 p.m.