ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – It was clear early on in Saturday's game that Megan Thompson was going to have a big day for the College of Saint Benedict basketball team.
 
She scored the team's first seven points of the game, and at one point had 12 of the team's 14 points as it led St. Olaf midway through the first quarter. Thompson finished with a career-high 27 points to lead CSB to a 78-52 win over St. Olaf Saturday to push the team's current winning streak to three games.

The win also pushed CSB's overall record above .500 at 8-7, and marked the team's fourth conference win of the year. CSB is now 4-4 in the MIAC.
 
Saint Benedict led by eight, 21-13, late in the first after a pair of free throws from Bailey Becker, but the Oles (5-10, 2-6) hit two threes and a free throw to make it a one-point game, 21-20, heading into the second. St. Olaf hit another three to take a 23-21 lead at the 9:27 mark of the second quarter, and that was the only basket scored until the 5:51 mark when Breanna Gates tied the game at 23-23.
 
The game was tied again at 25-25, but Sidney Schiffler scored on a 3-pointer and a layup, and Thompson wrapped up the second-quarter scoring with a jumper to put CSB up 32-25 at halftime.
 
Schiffler hit two more threes to open the third quarter, and a jumper by Thompson later pushed the team's lead to 16 three minutes in. St. Olaf made it a nine-point game thanks to two threes of its own, and then got it down to a seven-point game, 46-39, with 2:53 left in the third, but Thompson scored, got a steal and a layup, and McKenzie Holgate scored to push the lead back to 13, and CSB held a 14-point lead, 54-40, after three quarters.
 
Four straight free throws extended CSB's lead in the fourth quarter, and a three from Thompson made it a 20-point game, 65-45, with 3:38 to play.
 
Thompson finished with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field. Schiffler tied her career high with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from long range. Alex Johnson had eight rebounds and five assists for CSB, which shot 44.8 percent from the field and went 16-for-18 from the line. The team had 32 rebounds and just eight turnovers.
 
Makenna Ash led St. Olaf with 13 points and 16 rebounds. The Oles shot 30.4 percent from the field, went 12-for-19 from the line and had 39 rebounds and 21 turnovers.
 
CSB is back at home again Wednesday, Jan. 16, when it hosts St. Kate's at 7 p.m. in Claire Lynch.