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St. Ansgar girls split in first week of basketball season
by Warren Haacke, Press News Reporter
The St. Ansgar girls basketball team went 1-1 in their initial week of action for the 2008-09 season.
The squad downed Lake Mills 53-48 in double overtime in a November 25 home contest and then fell to Charles City 68-36 in a November 29 road contest.
"We played well in our win over Lake Mills and did a good job of keeping our composure," said Coach Duane Rustad. "Against Charles City we were plagued by sickness, injuries during the game and foul problems which really depleted our lineup and our depth."
Below are the game results:
Tuesday, November 25 at St. Ansgar
St. Ansgar 53 Lake Mills 48 - Double Overtime
The St. Ansgar girls started their season with an exciting victory over the Lake Mills Bulldogs in a game that took two overtimes to determine a winner. The Saints eventually came out on top by a score of 53 to 48.
The Saints were leading 41 to 39 with .5 seconds left in regulation, when Bulldog Sara Choder stepped to the free throw line and made both free throws to extend the game into overtime. In the first over time both teams traded baskets, sending the game to double overtime with the score tied 43 to 43. In the final overtime, the Saints took control early, forcing the Bulldogs to foul. The Saints came through in the clutch at the foul line, securing the victory.
Leading the scoring for the Saints was Kaylee Steinberg with 16, Natalie Braun with 13, Marissa Wagner with 9, and Emily Sturges with 8.
Leading rebounders for the Saints were Sturges with 9, Steinberg with 8 and Wagner with 6.
Taylor Rustad had an outstanding floor game with 7 steals and 7 assists.
Saturday, November 29 at Charles City
Charles City 68 St. Ansgar 36
The Charles City Comets took advantage of a depleted Saints front court, defeating the Saints by the score of 68 to 36 in a November 29 home contest. With one of the Saints top reserves home with the flu, the team also lost their leading scorer at the start of the second quarter when Kaylee Steinberg needed a trip to the hospital to close a small cut by her eye. Emily Sturges also quickly picked up her third foul, leaving the Saints front court very inexperienced. The Saints trailed 12-7 at the end of the first period and went into the locker room at half still trailing only 32-21.
When Sturges picked up her 4th foul the Saints had cut the lead to 34 to 25. When Sturges eventually fouled out, the Comets began to widen their lead.
"Give the girls credit, they continued to battle until the end," said Rustad. "We were unable to stop Charles City's Megan Forsyth in the post or the Comets hot shooting from the outside. "
Leading scores for the Saints were Marissa Wagner and Emily with 7 each, Taylor Rustad 6 and Kellie Schaefer 5 points.
Leading rebounders were Natalie Braun with 4, Nicole Schotanus and Rachael Freeman 3.
Taylor Rustad and Marissa Wagner both had nice floor games with Rustad garnering 5 steals and 5 assists and Wagner adding 3 steals and 3 assists.
St. Ansgar returns to action on December 2 in a home contest versus Newman.
Story created Dec 02, 2008 - 10:36:13 CST.
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