SEATTLE, Wash. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team wrapped up its Seattle road trip with a 75-71 win over Pacific Lutheran Saturday afternoon. The Blazers finished the two-game West Coast trip 1-1 and improved to 2-2 overall.
 
Saint Benedict led by six points, 73-67, with 1:47 left to play Saturday after Niki Fokken hit a pair of free throws. The Lutes made it a four-point game on a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left, and Lacey Nicholson scored on a layup to make it 73-71 with 34 seconds remaining in the game.
 
But Annie Dittberner hit two free throws with 24 seconds left to push CSB's lead back to four and Pacific Lutheran missed a shot late to allow the Blazers to hold on for the win.
 
Saint Benedict and Pacific Lutheran exchanged the lead five times to start the game until Abby Miller converted a three-point play and Emily Lueck hit a three to spark an 11-0 Blazer run to put CSB up 25-16 with 8:14 left in the first half. The Lutes hit a three to stop the run but Kate Banovetz hit a pair of buckets to push the CSB lead to 10, 29-19. CSB pushed its lead to 14 on a jumper by Alison Newton with 1:40 left in the half, but the Lutes ended the first half on a 6-0 run to make it an eight-point game, 38-30.
 
Pacific Lutheran whittled away at the Blazers' lead and cut the gap to one, 44-43, on a pair of free throws by Sarah Barnes with 14:34 left in the game, but Mattie and Emily Lueck both scored to extend CSB's lead. The Lutes took a 49-48 lead with 11:21 left, and led by as many as three points, but Miller hit a three to put the Blazers back on top for good with 7:36 remaining.
 
Newton hit a 3-pointer to push CSB's lead back to seven, 67-60, with 4:49 left before the Lutes tied the game at 67 with 3:49 left in the game. From there, however, CSB made several key shots and was able to hold on for the win.
 
CSB, which has struggled with cold shooting as of late, shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 6-for-15 from long range. Mattie Lueck finished with 16 points for the Blazers and she also had five assists. Miller had 12 points, Kate Banovetz had 11 points and six rebounds and Dittberner finished with 10 points. Fokken also had seven rebounds for CSB, which had 34 rebounds and nine turnovers.
 
Megan Abdo led the Lutes, who shot 42 percent from the field, with 19 points. Tayler Flemming added 13 points and Jori Hall had 10 rebounds. Pacific Lutheran had 43 rebounds and 11 turnovers.
 
The Blazers return home and open MIAC play against Concordia College Wednesday, Dec. 3.