ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team clinched home-court advantage for the first round of the MIAC playoffs with a 66-48 win at Hamline Wednesday night.
CSB is now 14-10 overall and 10-7 and alone in fourth in the MIAC thanks to its win over the Pipers and St. Kate's loss to Gustavus. Saint Benedict, which started the day tied with the Wildcats, will likely host St. Kate's Wednesday in a first-round playoff game. The Wildcats care 15-9 overall and 9-8 and in fifth in the league.
This will mark the first time CSB has hosted a MIAC playoff game since 2012-13 when it also earned the No. 4 seed and hosted Hamline in the first round. Saint Benedict lost to No. 1 Concordia in the semifinals that year.
The start of Wednesday's game in St. Paul was close throughout the first quarter until
Macy Kelly and
Megan Schroeder hit back-to-back 3-pointers to end the quarter and put CSB up 16-11. Schroeder hit another three to start the second quarter as part of a 14-0 CSB run that ended with a 24-11 Saint Benedict lead with 7:34 left in the second quarter.
Hamline got within nine late in the half, but
Chelsey Guetter hit a three and Schroeder hit her third three of the game with 39 seconds left to put CSB up 36-25 at halftime.
Saint Benedict maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, and threes from
Sidney Schiffler and Guetter gave CSB a 22-point lead, 54-32, with 1:38 left in the quarter, and CSB led 56-34 heading into the fourth and final quarter. Hamline outscored CSB 14-10 in the final quarter, but Saint Benedict's lead was too big for the Pipers to overcome.
Guetter led CSB with 12 points and nine rebounds and Schroeder finished with a career-high 11 points for CSB, which shot 41.8 percent from the field. Schiffler and
Niki Fokken both added 10 points and Fokken had 10 rebounds. Saint Benedict went 10-for-13 from the line and had 48 rebounds and 25 turnovers.
Alaina Quaranta led Hamline (5-19, 2-15) with 12 points. The Pipers shot 38.2 percent from the field, went 2-for-7 from the line and had 26 rebounds and 16 turnovers.
CSB wraps up the regular season Saturday, Feb. 18, when it takes on Saint Mary's in Winona. Official postseason pairings will be announced Saturday night after all regular season games are complete.
