ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team held No. 3 St. Thomas below its season scoring average of 75 points Saturday afternoon, but the Tommie defense stayed strong. CSB scored in single digits in the second through fourth quarters and fell 65-40 to UST in Claire Lynch, marking its first home loss of the season.
 
Saint Benedict (12-7, 8-4) hung with the Tommies in the first quarter, and were down just two – 17-15 – heading into the second. St. Thomas (18-0, 12-0) outscored CSB 14-9 in the second quarter, but Saint Benedict was only down seven – 31-24 – heading into halftime.
 
Annie Dittberner, Kate Banovetz and Chelsey Guetter all scored to start the third quarter and make it a two-point game, 32-30, with 5:51 left, but the Tommies outscored CSB 14-3 the rest of the quarter to make it a 46-33 game heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Guetter and Banovetz scored early the fourth for Saint Benedict, but after Banovetz's field goal with 7:57 left, CSB's next field goal didn't come until Alex Johnson scored with 1:39 remaining in the game. UST outscored CSB 13-1 in that time.
 
Guetter finished with 13 points and seven rebounds to lead CSB and Banovetz added nine points and seven rebounds. CSB shot 28.3 percent from the field, went 9-for-16 from the line and had 11 turnovers.
 
Kaitlin Langer led all scorers with 26 points for UST and she also had nine rebounds. Lucia Renikoff (14) and Lauren Fischer (13) also hit double digits in scoring, and Fischer had 11 rebounds. The Tommies shot 36.5 percent from the field, went 19-for-26 from the line and outrebounded CSB 48-31.
 
Saint Benedict looks to get back to its winning ways at home Wednesday, Feb. 1, when it hosts St. Olaf at 7 p.m. That game is part of National Girls and Women in Sport Day, and Marcia Mahlum will be honored as one of the Breaking Barriers award winners.