Austin senior Babaye Oja wasn’t about to see her season end at home.

So she did something about it.

Oja poured in 31 points as the Packers beat Waseca 67-58 in the first round of the Section 1AAA girls basketball tournament for their first postseason win since 2009 in Ove Berven Gym Wednesday.

Oja scored Austin’s first nine points of the game over the first five minutes to get them going.

“When coach texted us to tell us we had the third seed, we were all shocked, happy and pumped up for this game,” said Oja, who added nine rebounds and four steals. “I couldn’t concentrate in school all day because I was so ready for this game. I wanted this very bad and it feels great (to win).”

Austin (11-15 overall) led by as many as seven in the first half, but the Bluejays (10-14 overall) pulled closer when freshman Lindsey Malecha, who scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds, scored off a Packer turnover right before the halftime buzzer to make it 32-31.

Waseca tied the game at 34 when Jordan Hedberg hit a three, but Austin bounced back when Jenna Svoboda, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds, scored inside and Oja hit a three to make it 39-34.

Waseca got as close as 41-39 with 14:14 left, when Oja teamed up with Mer Gach to fire off nine straight points. Gach, a freshman center, finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Austin head coach Gary Peterson was pleased with how Gach, who wasn’t even on the varsity roster to start the season, played off the bench.

“That’s what we’ve been waiting for is someone to come off the bench and produce. That made a difference,” Peterson said.

Austin missed five free throws in a row late in the game, but Waseca’s Katie Miller missed a three that would’ve made it a two-point game with 1:25 left and Mikayla Rolling missed a jumper that would’ve made it a three-point game with 1:11 left.

The Packers will now travel to No. 2 seeded Red Wing (17-10 overall) Saturday at 7 p.m. Austin lost to Red Wing 65-42 Dec. 6.

Waseca 31 27 — 58

Austin 32 35 — 67

Austin scoring: Babaye Oja, 31; Jenna Svoboda, 13; Mer Gach, 12; Steph Justice, 7; Marwa Omot, 2; Alex Hansen, 2; field goals: 36 percent (24-for-66); three-pointers: 36 percent (4-for-11); free throws: 56 percent (15-for-27); rebounds: 43 (Svoboda, 11; Gach, 10); turnovers: 17

Waseca scoring: Lindsey Malecha, 21; Jordan Hedberg, 14; Katie Miller, 12; Mikayla Rolling, 8; Caitly Hayford, 2; Kari Simmons, 1; field goals: 34 percent (21-for-61); three-pointers: 26 percent (6-for-23); free throws: 59 percent (10-for-17); turnovers: 22