NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After a slow start to the 2018-19 season, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team has found its footing and, thanks to a 74-71 road win at St. Olaf Saturday evening, clinched its spot in the MIAC Tournament.
 
Saturday's win marked the team's 10^th conference win of the year, and leaves CSB tied for fourth with Gustavus with a 10-6 record with two games left in the regular season. CSB does have the tiebreaker over the Gusties by virtue of the season sweep. St. Thomas controls the league with a 16-0 mark, Augsburg is second at 14-2 and Bethel is third with an 11-5 mark. Saint Mary's is in sixth at 8-8, and Hamline and St. Kate's are both 7-9.
 
Saint Benedict – which is 14-9 overall – led by 11, 68-57, with 2:01 to play Saturday in Northfield, and had to hold off a late rally by the Oles to pull out the win. After Maddie Schmitz hit a free throw to finish the three-point play, St. Olaf went on a 10-4 run to get within four, 72-68, with 17 seconds left. But Megan Thompson – who sealed an overtime win with two free throws Wednesday, and drained a pair with 28 seconds left to keep the Oles at bay, hit two more with 15 seconds left to make it a six-point game, so the Oles' last-second 3-pointer was too little, too late.
 
St. Olaf (8-15, 5-11) held a slim lead throughout much of the first quarter, and maintained an 18-12 lead heading into the second. A pair of layups from Alex Johnson cut the lead to two in the second, but St. Olaf pushed its lead back to eight, and then back to four to end the half after Sidney Schiffler hit a three to cut the gap to one.
 
Schiffler hit another three early in the third, and Shae Olsen added a three to make it a three-point game, but the Oles kept finding answers. Johnson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game, and Thompson scored to give CSB its first lead of the game, 47-45, with 2:01 left in the third. Saint Benedict led by five, 50-45, heading into the fourth quarter, and extended its lead before the Oles made their comeback.
 
Thompson finished with 24 points to lead CSB, which shot 42.6 percent from the field. Johnson added 12 points and seven rebounds and Schmitz, Schiffler and McKenzie Holgate all added 10 points. Schmitz also had seven of the team's 31 rebounds. CSB hit nine 3-pointers, went 19-for-27 from the line and had 16 turnovers.
 
K'Lynn Lewis led St. Olaf with 17 points and Makenna Ash had 24 rebounds. The Oles shot 42.2 percent from the field and hit nine threes. They went 8-for-11 from the line and had 23 turnovers.
 
CSB is on the road once more then home to close out the regular season. Saint Benedict takes on No. 3 St. Thomas Wednesday in St. Paul before hosting Carleton on Saturday, Feb. 16.