ST. PAUL, Minn. – In January, the College of Saint Benedict needed overtime to beat Macalester College. Wednesday night in St. Paul, the Blazers made sure no extra time would be needed.
After taking a slim lead into halftime, the Blazers went on a 17-0 run to start the third quarter and grab a lead they would never give up en route to a 65-51 win against the Scots. Saint Benedict is now 14-6 overall and 9-4 in the MIAC. The Blazers have won five of their last six games and are tied for fourth with Gustavus.
After Macalester (7-13, 2-11) took a 13-10 lead after the first quarter, CSB outscored the Scots 23-17 in the second quarter to snag a 33-30 halftime lead. Saint Benedict dominated the third quarter, however, and didn't allow Macalester to score until there was less than a minute and a half left in the quarter and the Blazers led by 20.
Alison Newton started the scoring in the third with a layup, and
Niki Fokken hit a pair of free throws to give CSB a seven-point lead.
Macy Kelly scored to put the Blazers up 13, 43-30, with 5:43 left in the third, and neither team scored for more than two minutes.
Annie Dittberner and
Morgan Merritt hit back-to-back threes to push the lead to 20, 50-30, with 1:37 left, and the Scots scored their first points of the quarter at the 1:23 mark.
Macalester went on a 5-0 run to end the quarter, but CSB led 50-35 heading into the fourth. The Scots made it a 10-point game, 53-43, with 4:08 remaining, but Fokken hit a pair of free throws and a layup to push the gap back to 14, and CSB was able to hold on for the win.
The score was tied at 4-4 at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter, and after
Kate Banovetz put CSB up 10-8, Macalester tied the game at 10-10 and then took a 13-10 lead into the second quarter on a 3-pointer in the final two minutes. The Scots snagged a 15-10 early in the second, and later pushed their lead to six, 24-18, but
Kate Banovetz,
Chelsey Guetter and Merritt scored to put the Blazers up, 25-24. Macalester tied the score at 35, but Newton scored to put CSB up 27-25 with 3:45 left in the third and the Blazers would never trail again.
Kelly finished with a career-high 14 points to lead the Blazers, who shot 40 percent from the field. Guetter added 11 points and Fokken finished with 10. Kelly and Guetter each had eight rebounds for CSB, which outrebounded the Scots 37-35. CSB went 14-for-19 from the line and had 10 turnovers.
Regan Fruh scored 17 points – all in the first half – to lead Macalester, which also shot 40 percent from the field. Vivi Gregorich and Lauren Clamage both had 11 points and Leah Gray had eight rebounds. The Scots went 2-for-6 from the line and had 20 turnovers.
CSB returns home Saturday, Feb. 6, to take on Saint Mary's, which leads the league with an 11-2 record. The Blazers celebrate National Girls and Women in Sport Day Saturday, and Shelley Boyum-Breen will be honored at halftime.
