SAINT PAUL, MINN.—The 2021-22 MIAC opener pitted the Hamline University women's basketball team against Augsburg at Hutton Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Pipers dropped a 64-62 decision that saw a whopping 11 lead changes.

Hamline falls to 1-2, 0-1 MIAC, while Augsburg improves to to 1-3, 1-0 MIAC.

Augsburg 64, Hamline 62

Ten of the game's 11 lead changes occurred over the final three quarters, after the Auggies jumped to their largest advantage of the contest at 22-14 with 1:31 left in the opening frame behind Jen Masello's layup. The Hamline bench took over from that point forward as they outscored Augsburg's bench by a 29-6 margin. Sarah Loken had a lot to do with that, as 11 of her 15 points in the contest occurred in the second quarter, which included a pair of free throws with 0:33 remaining in the first half that tied the game 35-35 heading into intermission.

Six different Pipers tallied third-quarter points, which helped them notch a 49-46 lead with 10:00 left in the contest. The Pipers shrank a seven-point, 58-51 deficit with 4:02 left in the game with a 7-0 run that knotted things at 58-58 at the 1:41 mark, where Augsburg called a timeout. The timeout paid dividends as a pair of Selena Lor free throws with 1:21 left in the fourth gave Augsburg the lead for good at 60-58 before they hung onto a 64-62 win.

Loken led the Pipers with 15 points off the bench, followed by Lydia Lecher's 14 points. Chan'el Anderson-Manning tallied 10 points, along with three steals for Hamline. Sophie Findell led the way with five assists for the Pipers.

Hamline will face St. Mary's (Minn.) in their first road game of the season on Tuesday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m.