By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — If Saturday afternoon's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown between league-leading Augsburg and the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team was a heavyweight fight, it would safe to say the Cardinals had the Auggies on the ropes through three quarters.
 
And then the Auggies started throwing haymakers.
 
Augsburg, which never led until four minutes into the game's final quarter, erupted for 25 fourth-quarter points — and held Saint Mary's without a basket for the game's final 4:20 in knocking out the Cardinals 73-62 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Augsburg's fourth-quarter rally overshadowed the career performance by Saint Mary's Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.), who rained in a career-best 23 points — knocking down seven 3-pointers and hitting both of her free throw attempts.
 
But even Paulson's continuous 3-point jabs could not floor the Auggies — who entered the game sporting a 10-2 record, including an unblemished 5-0 mark in conference play.
 
The Cardinals got out of the gates quickly, scoring the game's first five points and 10 of the first 13 to grab an early 10-3 advantage. Augsburg, however, answered that early burst with seven unanswered points to knot the game at 10-10. Three, 3-pointers — including Paulson's third of the quarter — sparked a quarter-ending 8-4 run that gave Saint Mary's an 18-14 lead after 10 minutes.
 
Saint Mary's pushed its lead to a game-high 10, 26-16 on a pair of Paulson free throws, but the Cardinals could not shake the Auggies, who whittled the lead down to two, 31-29 — before Paulson knocked down a jumper and Blattner added a pair of free throws to give SMU a six-point, 35-29 lead at the break.
 
The Auggies collected their first lead of the game, 56-55, on an Aiza Wilson field goal with 6:30 remaining in regulation. An Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) 3-pointer pulled Saint Mary's even at 58-58, and the two teams were tied again 62-62 on a basket by Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) with 4:20 to play.
 
Over that final 4:20, however, the Auggies delivered the knockout punch — holding the Cardinals without a basket, while scoring 11 unanswered to seal the win.
 
Along with Paulson's 23-point effort — which left the Cardinal freshman just one 3-pointer shy of Ashley Luehmann's single-game school record — Saint Mary's also got 18 points and 13 rebounds from Blattner.
 
Saint Mary's shot 40 percent from the field (21-for-52) — with a season-high nine 3-pointers — and finished 11-for-14 from the free throw line.
 
Augsburg got 17 points from Tamira McLemore, 16 from Camryn Speese and 10 from Arianna Jones. The Auggies were 26-for-62 from the field (42 percent) with eight 3-pointers, and knocked down 13 of 19 free throws.
 
The Cardinals (3-3 MIAC, 7-6 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, entertaining Carleton in a 7 p.m. conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.