ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After watching Bethany Lutheran upset 17^th-ranked UW-Oshkosh Friday night, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team knew it had to come out firing on all cylinders Saturday against the Vikings to have a shot at winning.
 
Not only did the Bennies come out strong Saturday – they kept their foot on the gas the whole game.
 
Saint Benedict improved to 2-0 in the 2021-22 season thanks to an 87-66 win over Bethany Lutheran Saturday to wrap up the team's annual tip-off tournament. The loss marked the first of the season for the Vikings after their upset of the Titans Friday.
 
After trading baskets to start the game, Gabby Martin hit a three for the Bennies to spark a 10-0 run that put CSB up 13-5. A bucket from the Vikings stopped the run, and BLC was able to get within three points late in the first, but Olivia Boily and Madison Doran both scored on layups to make it a seven-point game, 19-12, after one.
 
Those two layups ended up being part of a 17-0 run that spanned from late in the first quarter through the 5:54 mark of the second and put the Bennies up 20 on the Vikings. Tori Szathmary completed a three-point play and Carla Meyer had a pair of threes during the run, including a three to make it a 20-point game. Bethany Lutheran stopped the run and got it down to a 15-point game, but baskets from Martin and Boily pushed the lead back to 21 with just over a minute left in the half, and the Bennies maintained a 42-24 lead at halftime.
 
Saint Benedict maintained a 20-point lead much of the third quarter, and pushed the lead to 23 on several occasions. The Vikings came out motived in the fourth quarter and got the lead down to 13 points, and cut the gap to 11 early in the quarter, but a three from Meyer made it a 14-point game, 73-59, with just over five minutes left. Another three from Meyer and a three-point play from Szathmary made it an 18-point game, and the Bennies cruised to the win from there.
 
Szathmary was named the tournament MVP after recorded a career-best 17 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead the Bennies, who shot 44 percent from the field. Meyer earned All-Tournament honors after adding 15 points and eight rebounds. Martin and Kate Seyer both finished with 13 points and Meyer led the team with five assists. The Bennies out-rebounded the Vikings 42-35 forced the Vikings into 17 turnovers.
 
Hanna Geistfeld led all players with 21 points and seven rebounds for Bethany Lutheran, which shot 38 percent from the field and went 13-for-17 from the line.
 
CSB is on the road for a pair of games Nov. 20 and 23, and returns home on Wednesday, Dec. 1, to take on Saint Mary's.