ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – All season long, Mattie Lueck has been a key play for the College of Saint Benedict basketball team.
The junior from Pequot Lakes, Minn., leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists, and generally gets the ball when the Blazers need points. This was never more true than last week when, with four seconds left, Lueck was given the ball and scored to lift CSB to a two-point win over Concordia. She led the Blazers in scoring, and followed up that performance by leading CSB in scoring again in a win over St. Kate’s Saturday.
For her late-game heroics and big numbers this past week, Lueck has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week. This is the third athlete of the week honor of the year for Lueck.
Lueck’s big week started Wednesday night when Saint Benedict traveled to Moorhead, Minn. Concordia led the entire first half, and the Blazers were down by as many as 15 points in the second half before Lueck started to heat up. She scored 20 second-half points, including the game-winning basket with four seconds left. The game was tied at 61, but Lueck drove the lane and scored to lift CSB to a 63-61 win. She finished the game with 29 points and two rebounds.
Saturday against St. Kate’s, Lueck continued her big week with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in a 73-62 win against the Wildcats. In two games last week, Lueck averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
With six games left in the regular season, Lueck leads the Blazers in scoring (14.3), rebounding (6.7) and assists (2.6) per game. She is fifth in the MIAC with a .502 field-goal percentage and sixth in the conference in points per game.
Lueck’s big games came at a good time for the Blazers, who currently sit in a tie for fifth place with Concordia in the MIAC. After two wins last week, Saint Benedict is 10-9 overall and 7-5 in the league and sits two games ahead of Augsburg and Hamline, which both have 5-7 conference records. The top six teams in the league make the conference tournament at the end of the season.
The Blazers return home Wednesday, Feb. 4, when they host St. Olaf at 7 p.m. Wednesday is also National Girls and Women in Sport Day, and any girls or women who wear a sport jersey, along with ARISE participants, get in free.
