ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Coming off a big 63-56 overtime win last week, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team came back strong at home to take its biggest win of the season.
The Blazers beat Concordia – which entered Saturday afternoon's contest on a four-game winning streak – 64-44, moving themselves into a five-way tie for second place in the MIAC. Saint Benedict is now 9-4 overall, 4-2 in the league and on a two-game winning streak heading into a big MIAC game at St. Thomas Wednesday.
In the first quarter, the Blazers jumped ahead with a 6-2 run to start the night. From here, the Cobbers closed the gap and finished the first quarter down by only two as the score sat at 8-6.
Grace Wolhowe hit a three and
Niki Fokken scored to start the second quarter with a 5-0 CSB run to put the score at 13-6. After a 28-point quarter, the Blazers sat with a 36-21 lead at halftime.
Fokken and
Alison Newton each scored four points to start the second half on a 6-2 run to take a 44-23 lead. After battling through the third quarter, the Blazers extended their lead by 10 more points to set the score at 56-31. In the fourth quarter, the Cobbers finished strong to close the gap as they held the Blazers to only eight points. After allowing 13 points to the Cobbers, the Blazers walked away with a 64-44 win to push themselves into the No. 2 spot in the MIAC rankings.
Newton led the Blazers' offense with 12 points and
Annie Dittberner added another 11.
Chelsey Guetter and Fokken also finished the night with 10 points each. Wolhowe finished with five rebounds and Fokken added four, and Dittberner finished the night with five assists. CSB shot 52.2 percent from the field, including 47 percent from long range. The Blazers went 8-for-14 from the line and had 23 rebounds and 12 turnovers.
Jenna Januschka was the only Cobber in double digits with 13 points. Cyrstal Amundson had eight rebounds and Olivia Johnson finished with seven. The Cobbers shot 30 percent from the field, went 9-for-11 from the line and had 39 rebounds and 22 turnovers.
Saint Benedict is on the road for the next five games, starting with a 7 p.m. game against the Tommies Wednesday, Jan. 13, in St. Paul.
