ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After digging itself a hole in the third quarter Friday evening, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team was almost able to dig itself out and end the 2021 season with a win, but came up short.
After going down by as many as 19 points to Concordia, the Bennies came back and made it a game in the fourth quarter before falling 71-62 in the season finale for both teams in Claire Lynch Hall. CSB ends the season 4-5 overall, including a big win over St. Thomas to help coach
Mike Durbin reach the 700-win milestone.
Concordia (3-4) led by 19 early in the third, and pushed its lead back to 18 late in the quarter before
Carla Meyer hit a three to make it a 15-point game, 61-46, heading into the final 10 minutes of play. That there sparked a 10-0 run for the Bennies that included three-point plays from
Maddie Schmitz and
Kate Seyer, and got CSB within eight, 61-53, with 7:47 left to play.
A three from
Madison Doran made it a five-point game, 65-60, with 2:51 remaining, and a layup from Schmitz got the Bennies back within five with just over a minute left to play. But Schmitz's basket with 1:16 left was the final bucket of the game for CSB, and the Cobbers hit a pair of free throws and a layup to hold on for the win.
It was the Bennies who got off to a fast start and led 6-0 early in the game thanks to two baskets from Schmitz and one from Doran, but the Cobbers found their footing. After
Nancy Soro hit a jumper to go up 13-5 with five minutes left in the first, Concordia went on a 13-1 run to take a 21-14 lead into the second quarter. Schmitz hit a pair of free throws and a basket to start the second, but Concordia pushed its lead to double-digits midway through the quarter and led 42-27 at halftime.
Schmitz scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in her final game in a Bennie uniform. She added four steals to her stat line and went 8-for-9 from the line. Meyer added 11 points and four assists and Doran had 10 points. CSB shot 34 percent from the field, went 13-for-16 from the line and had 32 rebounds and 16 turnovers.
Emily Beseman paced the Cobbers with 22 points and eight rebounds. Concordia shot 47 percent from the field – including 53 percent in the first half – and went 16-for-17 from the line. They had 38 rebounds and committed 24 turnovers.
Schmitz is the lone senior on the Bennies' 2021 roster and graduates after four seasons with the team.
