The Austin girls basketball team gave the Big Nine champions a run for their money, but it ultimately fell 52-45 at Owatonna Saturday in its regular season finale.

The Packers (4-19 overall) trailed by just two at the break, but they missed 14 of their three-point attempts after knocking down a couple of deep ones early in the game.

“If we could’ve forced a turnover or gotten a break here or there it could’ve been different,” Austin head coach Gary Peterson said. “This was much better than the first time we played them (a 17-point loss on Jan. 22).”

Austin will enter the Section 1AAA tournament as a No. 8 seed and will travel to top-seeded New Prague Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. contest.

Austin scoring: Jenna Svoboda, 15; Bri Mayer, 10; Kaycee Lukes, 9; Babaye Oja, 4; Meg Brucker, 3; Robin Arjes, 2; Taylor Lady, 2; turnovers: 16