The Austin girls basketball team finished its regular season with a 70-57 win at Mankato West (6-19 overall, 5-12 Big Nine) Friday.

The Packers (8-15 overall, 6-12 Big Nine) trailed 8-2 to start the game, but they battled back. Austin took a three point lead late in the first half and Mer Gach put them up 34-28 at the break when she drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I think the kids kind of had that good feeling about themselves again. We fought back and got control of the game,” Austin head coach Todd Johnson said. “It was a great team win and we played really good defense.”

Gach finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds for Austin and Shayley Vesel added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Packers, who finished the season in eighth place in the Big Nine, will open the postseason Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“We feel like we’ve got some momentum headed into the tournament,” Johnson said.

Austin 34 36 — 70

West 28 29 — 57

Austin scoring: Mer Gach, 30; Shayley Vesel, 12; Merideth Fritz, 9; Alex Hansen, 6; Sydney Murphy, 6; Ruth Koang, 4; Amber Hansen, 2; Tori Grev, 1; free throws: 62 percent (24-for-39)