ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team's defense came on strong Wednesday night, and it paid off in a 65-46 win for the Blazers.
 
CSB (6-2, 2-1) held the Pipers to just two points in the first quarter and led 32-20 at halftime. The Blazers forced Hamline into 14 turnovers and gave up just two 3-pointers. Saint Benedict also held Chelsey Bonsante, who entered the game second in the MIAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game, to six points.
 
Wednesday's win marks the 499^th MIAC win in CSB women's basketball history. The Blazers are now just one game shy of becoming the third women's basketball program in the conference to reach 500 MIAC wins. St. Thomas and Concordia both have more than 540 conference wins since joining the league in the 1980s. CSB joined the MIAC in 1985.
 
The Blazers took control early in Wednesday's game and never looked back. After early baskets by Chelsey Guetter and Alison Newton, Grace Wolhowe and Ke'Avae Taylor hit back-to-back threes to put the Blazers up 10-0. Hamline (2-6, 1-2) scored its only basket of the quarter with just under four minutes left in the first, and a jumper by Niki Fokken made it 12-2 at the end of the first.
 
Hamline cut the gap to nine to start the second quarter, but Newton hit a three to push the lead back to 12 and Morgan Merritt hit a three a few minutes later to make it a 13-point game, 24-11, with 3:51 left in the first half. The Pipers cut into the lead again and made it a 10-point game late in the quarter, but Courtney Nelson hit a three to make it 30-17. The Blazers led 32-20 at halftime.
 
Wolhowe and Merritt hit threes early in the third to keep the Blazers' lead in double digits, and a three by Taylor and a layup by Kate Banovetz pushed the gap to 20, 53-33, with 1:23 left in the third. CSB was able to maintain nearly a 20-point lead for the remainder of the game.
 
Banovetz finished with 10 points and seven rebounds to lead CSB, which shot 47.2 percent from the field. The Blazers hit eight 3-pointers and went 7-for-12 from the line. Wolhowe added nine points and Taylor finished with eight. Guetter also had seven rebounds. CSB had 19 turnovers and 40 rebounds.
 
Chloe Graves led all scorers with 15 points for Hamline and Tia Diggins added 12. Graves also had six rebounds. The Pipers shot 35.4 percent from the field, went 10-for-15 from the line and had 22 rebounds.
 
CSB wraps up MIAC play for 2015 Saturday, Dec. 12, when it travels to Arden Hills to take on Bethel. That game also marks CSB's last heading into the holiday break.