ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – A short-handed College of Saint Benedict basketball team gave a full-strength Concordia squad a run for its money Wednesday night.
 
With just eight players available due to COVID protocols, the Bennies overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to get within three at halftime, then went shot-for-shot with the Cobbers in the third quarter. CSB was within one midway through the fourth, but Concordia used a late run to pull away for an 82-78 win in Moorhead.
 
CSB is now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the MIAC in 2021, and head coach Mike Durbin is sitting on the edge of a career milestone with 699 career wins.
 
After a tight third quarter, a late jumper from Kendyl Thompson put the Bennies within three, 55-52, of Concordia heading into the final 10 minutes of play. The Cobbers extended their lead early, but Carla Meyer got back-to-back steals and layups on Concordia's inbounds plays and Maddie Schmitz hit a three to tie the game at 59-59 with 8:14 left to play.
 
The Cobbers pushed their lead back to five, but a pair of baskets from Doran made it a one-point game, 66-65, with 5:49 left, but that's as close as the Bennies would get. After Doran's second jumper, Concordia went on a 12-2 run to go up 78-67 with 1:21 remaining. Doran scored and Meyer hit a three, and Kate Seyer hit two threes in the final 10 seconds of the game, but the late barrage of long-range shots was too little, too late.
 
After getting out to a slow start against CSB last week when the two teams met in St. Joseph, the Cobbers came out hot early Wednesday on their home court. Concordia led 8-2 early, and pushed its lead to nine, 23-14, in the final minute of the first quarter. A cold start to the second for CSB allowed the Cobbers to push their lead to 13, 30-17, with 6:09 left in the half before the Bennies got their feet back.
 
Doran hit back-to-back buckets to stop the run, and after Concordia pushed its lead back to 12 with 3:02 left, CSB ended the quarter with a 9-0 run punctuated by a three from Tori Szathmary to make it a three-point game, 36-33, at halftime. The Bennies grabbed their first lead of the game at the 7:37 mark of the third thanks to a layup from Maddie Schmitz, and from there the two teams went back and forth for the next several minutes.
 
Schmitz hit the 20-point mark for the third straight game Wednesday, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds – her third straight double-double. Doran scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, and she also had four rebounds. Both Meyer and Szathmary added 12 points and Meyer had another eight-assist game. After shooting 35 percent from the field in the first quarter, the Bennies warmed up and finished the game shooting 45 percent. They went 9-for-12 from the line and committed just eight turnovers, but got outrebounded 31-27.
 
Mary Sem paced Concordia with 20 points and Emily Beseman had 10 rebounds. After shooting 66 percent in the first quarter, the Cobbers shot just 30 percent in the second, but wrapped up the game shooting nearly 70 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. They shot 55 percent from the field for the game and went 13-for-16 from the line. They committed nine turnovers.
 
CSB is back at home Saturday, Feb. 13, when it hosts Saint Mary's at 2 p.m. in Claire Lynch. Stay tuned to www.gobennies.com for schedule updates.