ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict Women's Basketball Team (1-0, 0-0) faces a tough road test as the Bennies open MIAC play against St. Olaf (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 pm at Bob Gelle Court at Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn.

CSB, which has five returning starters and several others who saw action a year ago, opened the season with a 57-52 win over Minnesota Morris. A year ago, CSB finished 15-11, including 11-10 in the MIAC for fifth place. In its last five MIAC openers, CSB is 4-1. 

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Series Notes
CSB owns a 62-10 all-time series lead over St. Olaf with nine straight wins in the series. A year ago, on Feb. 9 at St. Olaf, the Bennies took a 73-60 win as they led, 34-21, at the halftime break. With a 22-14 advantage in the third quarter, the Bennies were able to push the lead further as they earned the league win. In conference play, the Bennies own a 62-7 mark and sit 30-5 in road games against the Oles. At home, CSB is 32-5. In the first matchup between the two schools on Dec. 1, 1981, St. Olaf took a 66-51 decision. The Oles' last win in the series was a 50-47 decision at St. Joseph., on Dec. 5, 2016. The last win at Northfield for St. Olaf was a 68-62 decision on Feb. 8, 2014. The Bennies won 36 straight games from Jan. 18, 1993, to Feb. 3, 2010. In games decided by five points or fewer, CSB has a 6-3 advantage.

Breaking Down St. Olaf
Head Coach Kelly Mahlum, a two-time MVP, four-year starters and 1993 All-American at the College of Saint Benedict, leads the St. Olaf program. She scored 1,612 points at CSB where she was also involved in softball, soccer, and volleyball before graduating in 1993. At St. Olaf, she is 10-20-0 with a 7-15 MIAC record. She joined St. Olaf after coaching at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio where she had a 63-45 record. The Oles have opened with a 3-0 record, including a 69-59 win vs Alma College and a 62-48 decision over North Park in Chicago, Ill., on Nov. 11-12. The Oles also defeated Minnesota Morris, 64-45 on Nov. 16. In the win over UMM, St. Olaf had a 28-20 lead and then used a 21-8 third quarter to create a double-digit lead as they won their first home game. St. Olaf is led by Rachel Kelly who averaged 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds through three games. She scored 19 points in a win over Minnesota Morris. Paige Yagodinski has added 14.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. She has had two double-doubles in three games. Also for St. Olaf, Grace Hegland is supplying 12.7 points and 9.3 rebounds.

CSB Schedule Breakdown 
CSB will host Gustavus Adolphus in the home opener at 7 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Claire Lynch Hall. After a road trip to Duluth, Minn., to face the College of St. Scholastica at 7 pm on Nov. 30, the Bennies will play five games in December, including two at home. They host Augsburg at 3 pm on Dec. 3 and Macalester College at 7 pm on Dec. 7. CSB will then travel to Hamline in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 10 for a 3 pm contest. The Bennies close 2022 by playing at the Big Island Classic in Hilo, Hawaii to face Worcester State on Dec. 18 and then meet DePauw on Dec. 19 with both contests at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. After Jan. 1, 2023, CSB plays 15 games starting with a road trip to St. Catherine on Jan. 4. The MIAC Tournament Championship begins on Feb. 21 with the quarterfinals. The league title game is 3 pm on Saturday, Feb. 25.
 
Inside Look at CSB WBB
CSB is a veteran squad which returns All-MIAC point guard Carla Meyer along with All-MIAC honorable mention standouts Sophia Jonas and Gabby Martin. In addition, senior Tori Szathmary was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team while Lydia Hay also returns as a starter.
 
CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin, who has 717 career wins, is ranked in the top 20 coaches in wins regardless of the division.  
 
CSB opened with 57-52 win over Minnesota Morris on the road
Sophomore Sophia Jonas knocked down five threes and scored 15 points to lead CSB past Minnesota-Morris, 57-52, on Nov. 12 on the road. Both Olivia Boily (12 points and 7 rebounds) and Abigail Kubouchek (10 points and 7 rebounds) had career-highs in points and helped CSB to a 22-14 advantage in bench scoring. With the win, CSB improved its series lead over UMM to 12-3 with a 12^th straight win in the series. The Bennies won its 10th road opener in 16 games on Saturday.

Player Notes

Junior guard Carla Meyer, a junior from New Brighton, Minn., opened the season with seven points and five rebounds against UMM. She has scored double digits in 21 of 24 games (29 double-digit career scoring games), including a career-best 26 points against Bethel on Feb. 2, 2022. Meyer, who has made four threes in a game five times, has totaled 459 points, 159 rebounds, 72 three-pointers (34.6 percent), 34 games, 33 starts, 38 steals and 117 assists.
 
Gabby Martin, a senior from Pillager, Minn., opened with seven points, five rebounds, and four assists against Minnesota Morris. She scored a career-high 17 points against St. Olaf on Feb. 9, 2022 and has a high of eight rebounds at St. Scholastica on Nov. 20, 2021 with a high of six assists also against St. Olaf on Feb. 9, 2022. She had five steals on Jan. 10, 2022 against St. Olaf on the road for her career-best. Martin, who has made 20 career threes at CSB, now has 265 career points and 111 rebounds in playing in her second year with the program.
  
Tori Szathmary opened with two points and seven rebounds with an assist, two steals and two blocks against Minnesota Morris. A year ago, she had double-digit rebounds on seven occasions (eight in her career) with a career-high in rebounds of 13 against Augsburg on the road on March, 3, 2021. She set a career-best in points with 17 against Bethany Lutheran on Nov. 13, 2021. Originally of Lakewood, Colo., she has played in 57 games at CSB. Szathmary has scored double-digits four times (eight times in her career) with three double-doubles. Szathmary has 272 career points with 292 career rebounds and 21 blocked shots. She has twice made two threes in a game and has 16 made triples in her career.
 
Junior forward Lydia Hay opened the season with four points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks in the win over Minnesota Morris. Hay has recorded five double-digit scoring games, and reached double digits in rebounds once (11, Wisconsin-Superior, 11/23/21). Originally of Maple Grove, Minn., Hay, who has 162 points and 104 rebounds in her career, scored a career-best 14 points against Macalester on 12/11/21.
 
Sophomore wing Sophia Jonas had 15 points in the opener and now has 10 double-digit scoring games. She matched her career-best of five made threes in the opener. On Jan. 10, 2022, against St. Olaf, she had five threes and set her career high with 23 points. Ten times, she has hit three or more three-pointers in a game. She has 219 career points, 49 made three-pointers and 53 rebounds.

Sophomore Olivia Boily set a career-best with 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds against Minnesota-Morris in the opener on Nov. 12, 2022. She now has played in 25 games with 118 points and 113 rebounds.

Abigail Kubouchek, a sophomore from Prior Lake, Minn., opened her sophomore season by setting a career-best with 10 points and seven rebounds vs. Minnesota Morris. She also had two made three-point shots. Kubouchek, who also recorded her first-double-digit scoring game against UMM this year, now has 43 points and 35 rebounds in her career in 17 games.
 
CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin has 716 career wins
Durbin, who heads into his 37th season with the Bennies in 2022-23, recorded his 700th win at home (Claire Lynch Hall) on Feb. 24, 2021, in an 88-83 win over the University of St. Thomas. In 36 seasons, Durbin has recorded 32 winning teams, coached 70 All-MIAC First Team selections, 54 honorable mention athletes, 15 players All-MIAC Defensive Team members and 15 all-first year team picks. Overall, he has a 717-264 record, including 713-242 with the Saint Ben's program. Under Durbin's direction, CSB has averaged nearly 20 wins a season for nearly 40 years and has won or shared 13 MIAC championship titles. CSB has finished in the top four in the conference 29 times in his 36 seasons at the helm. CSB has also competed in the NCAA Tournament 17 times in Durbin's 36 years, including eight NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, three Elite 8 appearances and two NCAA Final Four appearances. In 2015-16, Durbin guided CSB to the 500th MIAC win in program history since joining the league in 1985. Saint Benedict is the third program to reach the milestone and was the last team to join the conference. He holds a 557-173 mark in conference play. He is 19th in the NCAA in total wins regardless of division. During the summer of 2003, Durbin was inducted into the Minnesota High School Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. On Dec. 1, 2001, against Macalester at Claire Lynch Hall, Durbin surpassed former University of St. Thomas head coach Ted Riverso to become the winningest coach in MIAC women's basketball history. In 1992-93, Saint Benedict made its first appearance in the NCAA Final Four, and then repeated that accomplishment just six years later. In the 1998-99 season, he led CSB to the NCAA Championship game, finishing as the national runner-up with a 74-65 loss to Washington University (Mo). Four CSB basketball players have received MIAC Player of the Year honors, nine have received All-American Honors and five have received Academic All-American honors. Under Durbin's watch, 20 players have surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in their careers. Durbin, the eldest of nine children, was born and raised in Howard, Ohio. At East Knox High School, he competed in basketball and football. After his high school graduation in 1977, Durbin attended Kent State University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and public relations in 1981. He later earned a master's degree from Ashland College in sports administration. He served as an interim coach at Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio) for one year before coming to CSB in 1986.