Dominick Ingram, Staff Writer

The women’s basketball team made the program’s first-ever appearance in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) postseason championship game last Saturday falling to the University of St. Thomas 73–54. The Auggies and many others were confident that they would receive one of the 20 at-large berths to the NCAA Division-III national tournament but found out on Monday that their season was over with some believing that the snub could have been due to their strength of schedule.

The championship was a hard-fought, back-and-forth affair. Augsburg trailed St. Thomas 29–25 at halftime. The Auggies were able to cut the Tommie lead to just one on two separate occasions throughout the third quarter, but St. Thomas got on fire midway through the third going on an 11–1 run to extend their lead to double digits. Going to the fourth quarter, the Auggies were down 51–45, but the Augsburg offense went cold, allowing St. Thomas to come out on top. St. Thomas led in field-goal percentage, shooting 47.2 percent, compared the Auggies’ 31.3 percent. The Tommies also won the rebound battle 43–27.

The stars were out on Saturday with St. Thomas’ Hannah Spaulding finishing with a 25-point, 17-rebound, 3-steal performance. Tamira McLemore led Augsburg with a team-best 19 points, which included a 4-for-8 effort from beyond the arc.

It was an outstanding season for the Auggies, setting a school record for victories in a single season (22), conference victories (15) and a program best second-place MIAC finish. Augsburg will be in good hands next year with the leading scorer, rebounder and assists leader all coming back for head coach Ted Riverso.

The Auggies will be determined to show everyone next year that they are no fluke. After being snubbed from the tournament this year, this group will be out to prove the doubters.

Junior Arianna Jones attempts a free throw in Augsburg’s game against Macalaster on February 13th. Photo by Greg Miller.

This article was originally published in the March 1, 2019 issue.