MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – After keeping Augsburg contained for the first three quarters of play, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team's defense couldn't hold up in the fourth quarter.
 
CSB entered the final 10 minutes of play tied 37-37 with the 15^th-ranked Auggies, but Augsburg scored 25 fourth-quarter points to pull away for a 62-54 win Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
 
With four games left in the regular season, Saint Benedict is 10-11 overall and 6-10 and tied for seventh in the MIAC.
 
The Auggies (18-3, 14-2) took an early fourth-quarter lead, but Sidney Schiffler hit a free throw then a layup to tie the game at 40. From there, however, Augsburg went on a 10-2 run to go up 50-42 with 3:20 left to play. The Auggies made it a 10-point game with 2:13 left, but CSB got within six when Tori Szathmary scored a pair of baskets, and again after Schiffler scored to make it 56-50 with just under a minute left. The Auggies, however, went 6-for-8 from the line in the final 47 seconds of the game to seal the win.
 
Saint Benedict took its biggest lead of the game in the first five minutes of play Saturday afternoon. Alex Johnson scored and Megan Thompson hit two free throws to put the team up 4-0, and a three from Thompson made it 8-1 at the 5:42 mark. The Auggies, however, ended the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.
 
CSB's defense held strong in the second, and the Bennies took a 22-21 lead into halftime after holding the Auggies to seven second-quarter points. Haylee Fingalsen and Maddie Schmitz hit back-to-back threes to end the half.
 
Augsburg started the third quarter on a 10-0 run to go up 31-22, but Schiffler hit a three and a pair of free throws and Schmitz added a free throw to tie the game, and the two teams went into the final quarter tied at 37.
 
Schiffler led the Bennies with 16 points and Thompson added 14 points and six assists Saturday. Schmitz added eight points and Szathmary had a career-high seven points to go along with six rebounds. CSB shot 36.4 percent from the field, went 15-for-24 from the line and had 19 turnovers.
 
Tamira McLemore led all sorers with 23 points for Augsburg and Camryn Speese led the Auggies with 12 points. Augsburg shot 31.6 percent from the field, went 22-for-29 from the line and won the rebounding battle 45-29.
 
CSB is back at home for the first time in more than a week Wednesday, Feb. 12, when it hosts Macalester at 7 p.m. The athletic department will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sport Day at halftime, and head cross country and track and field coach Robin Balder-Lanoue '91 will be honored for earning the Bennie Spotlight Award for 2020.