ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team heads into a three-game road trip with some momentum after a 59-49 win over Saint Mary's Monday night.
The win in Claire Lynch marked the second time in the last six days the two teams have played, and completed CSB's season sweep of the Cardinals. Monday's game was originally scheduled to be played in late November, but was pushed back due to poor weather.
Neither team got off to the start it was looking for Monday.
Sidney Schiffler hit a pair of free throws and a three to put CSB up 5-0, and the Cardinals (1-14, 1-9) hit a 3-pointer, but the score stayed 5-3 for three minutes. Then,
Madison Doran hit a jumper and SMU hit two free throws, and the score stayed 7-5 for nearly three more minutes until
Maddie Schmitz scored and hit two free throws in the final 58 seconds of the quarter to put CSB up 11-5.
A three from
Megan Thompson put CSB (8-7, 4-6) up six early in the second, the team's biggest lead of the game. The Cardinals took a three-point lead late in the half, but Schiffler scored and
McKenzie Holgate hit a three to put the Bennies up 26-22 at halftime.
Schiffler hit another three to make it a seven-point game early in the third, and the Bennies were able to maintain that lead throughout the quarter. Holgate hit two free throws with 2:23 left to keep CSB's lead at six, 36-30, and neither team scored for the final two minutes of the third.
The Cardinals never let the Bennies take a lead of more than seven points early in the fourth quarter, but Saint Benedict didn't let SMU gain too much footing. The Cardinals got within five twice, and then within four thanks to a 3-pointer with 6:19 left to play, but Holgate scored and Schiffler hit a pair of free throws to push the team's lead back to eight. SMU got within five, 52-47, with 1:43 to play, but the Bennies went 7-for-10 from the line down the stretch, including a 4-for-4 clip from Schiffler, to seal the win.
Schiffler led all scorers with 16 points, and she tied her career high with seven rebounds. She went 8-for-8 from the line to improve her percentage to .893 on the season. Schmitz added 12 points and six rebounds, and
Alex Johnson led the team with nine rebounds. First year
Tori Szathmary sparked the team's defense with a career-high seven steals. CSB shot 36 percent from the field, went 18-for-24 from the line and had 34 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
Brooklyn Paulson paced Saint Mary's with nine points and Rachel Kedl led the team with eight rebounds. The Cardinals shot 34 percent from the field, went 8-for-13 from the line and had 35 rebounds and 17 turnovers.
CSB is on the road Wednesday, Jan. 22, when it heads to Moorhead for a MIAC game at Concordia. The team isn't back at home until Saturday, Feb. 1, when it hosts Hamline.
