NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team avenged one of its losses from earlier this season Saturday afternoon when it defeated St. Olaf 65-54 in Northfield, Minn.
The MIAC win also pushed the Blazers' current winning streak to three games. CSB is now 12-5 overall and in a three-way tie for third in the conference with a 7-3 mark. Concordia and Gustavus are also 7-3 in the league.
After ending the first quarter with a 20-19 lead over the Oles Saturday afternoon, the Blazers outscored St. Olaf 15-6 in the second quarter to take a 35-25 lead into halftime.
Macy Kelly hit a pair of free throws to start the quarter,
Alison Newton scored and
Niki Fokken scored on a layup for a 6-0 run. Newton hit three free throws to end the quarter and give CSB a 10-point lead.
The Oles held CSB to seven points in the third quarter and cut the lead to four, 42-38, heading into the final quarter, but the Blazers scored 23 fourth-quarter points to put the Oles away. After a back-and-forth start to the quarter,
Annie Dittberner and
Grace Wolhowe hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it an 11-point game, 56-45, with 5:32 to play.
St. Olaf hit a three, but
Kate Banovetz and Dittberner scored to later push the Blazers' lead to 12, 60-48. The Oles cut the gap to six, 60-54, with three minutes left on a pair of threes, but Kari Keogh's three with 3:01 left was the last time the Oles scored. Dittberner, Wolhowe and
Ke'Avae Taylor all hit free throws to help the Blazers seal the win in the final three minutes.
Fokken finished with 12 points to lead CSB on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Dittberner finished with 11 points and
Chelsey Guetter and Newton each added 10. Guetter and Kelly both had six rebounds and Newton had five assists. CSB shot 47 percent from the field, went 12-for-21 from the line and had 31 rebounds and 12 turnovers.
Koegh led all scorers with 13 points for the Oles, who shot 37.7 percent from the field. Zoe Hansen had seven rebounds and Woo Bandel had four assists. The Oles went 7-for-12 from the line and had 29 rebounds and 15 turnovers.
The Blazers are on the road once more before returning home for the first time in five games. CSB is at Hamline Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in St. Paul.
