NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After a big MIAC win against Saint Mary's Wednesday night, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team headed into its weekend contest against Carleton looking to keep that momentum rolling in hopes of moving up in the conference standings and potentially hosting a first-round game in the MIAC tournament.
The Blazers executed that plan to perfection in the first half, building up a 12-point lead at halftime and pushing it to 17 points early in the second half. But Carleton had other ideas.
The Knights chipped away at the Blazers' lead, and Carleton tied the game at 51 with 1:05 left, and then took its second lead of the game, 54-53, on a 3-pointer by Skylar Tsutsui with 32 seconds remaining.
Niki Fokken hit a jumper to put CSB up one with 20 seconds left, and the Knights missed a shot but grabbed the offensive board and were able to score with two seconds left on an inbounds pass to win 56-55.
Saint Benedict is now 11-12 overall and 8-8 in the MIAC. The Blazers are tied with Augsburg for sixth, which makes Wednesday night's game against the Auggies all the more important. The two teams were tied heading into Saturday with 8-7 MIAC records, and the Auggies lost 72-58 to Bethel. CSB and Augsburg face off at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18.
The Blazers took control of the game early, going up by five on a three by
Annie Dittberner. The Knights closed the gap, and made it a three-point game at 13-10 with 12:49 left, but
Macy Kelly hit a free throw and
Tyla Wilder added a pair of free throws to start a 7-0 run that ended with a three by Wilder and a 20-10 CSB lead with 6:36 left in the first half. The Blazers maintained their lead, and
Alison Newton hit a three and
Mattie Lueck scored on a jumper to go into halftime with a 29-17 lead.
CSB started the second half on a high note as well as Lueck scored and
Abby Miller hit a three to make it a 17-point game, 34-17, with 18:57 remaining. After Miller's three, however, CSB didn't score again until Lueck hit a single free throw with 13:05 left to play, and the Knights went on a 16-1 run to make it a two-point game, 35-33, with 11:20 left.
A three-point play by Fokken pushed the Blazers' lead back to seven, 40-33, and CSB held a slim lead for the next several minutes, but Carleton wouldn't go away. Nnenna Ezem scored to make it a two-point game, 44-42, with 6:38 left, and after the Blazers built up another lead, a three by Gabbi Steinstra made it a two-point game, 51-49, with 2:39 left. Michele Arima tied the game at 51 with 1:05 left, and from there the Knights were able to pull out the win.
Fokken finished with 15 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers, who shot 36.5 percent from the field. Lueeck added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Dittberner finished with nine points. Saint Benedict went 13-for-21 from the line and had 42 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
Sarah Waldfogel paced Carleton with 15 points. Ezem added 11 points and nine rebounds and Tsutsui finished with 10 points. The Knights shot just 29.7 percent from the field, but hit one more free throw than CSB and went 14-for-24 from the line. Carleton had 39 rebounds and 11 turnovers.
Wednesday's game marks the first of two remaining in the regular season. After Wednesday's matchup with Augsburg, the Blazers travel to Gustavus to end the regular season Saturday, Feb. 21. The MIAC tournament starts Tuesday, Feb. 24.
