NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Carla Meyer, Sophia Jonas and Tori Szathmary scored in double-digits and sparked a second-half rally as the College of Saint Benedict (2-0, 1-0 MIAC) opened MIAC play with a 63-59 road win in overtime over St. Olaf (3-1, 0-1) on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 32-28 at halftime, the Bennies outscored the Oles, 28-24 in the second half to force overtime. With a 7-3 advantage in the extra session, CSB earned the victory in the closely contested league contest.

The key play in the second half (overtime) was from junior forward Lydia Hay (seven points), who converted a three-point play with 16 seconds left to give the Bennies a 61-59 lead. Then, Szathmary had a pair of foul shots late to help the Bennies to the win. It was the 10^th straight victory in the series for the Bennies, which owns a 63-10 all-time mark.

CSB Head Coach Mike Durbin, who earned his 718^th career win, was pleased with the big play ability of his team. "We had a lot of players who made big plays when we needed them. It was a nice win," he said.

Senior center Tori Szathmary recorded the fourth double-double of her career with 14 points and tied a career-high with 13 rebounds (Augsburg, March 3, 2021). In her ninth career double-digit scoring game, Szathmary was 4-of-10 from the floor, hit 1-of-2 from three-point range and 5-6 at the foul line. With the 13 rebounds, she surpassed 300 rebounds for her career (305).

Sophomore guard Sophia Jonas continued her sharpshooting from the perimeter by scoring 15 points for the second straight game. She was 4-of-8 from three-point range and had two rebounds. Jonas, who has 11 career double-digit scoring games, now has hit four of more threes in a second straight game.

Junior guard Carla Meyer led the team with 18 points as she now has 22 double-digit scoring games. She had eight made field goals, including a pair of triples.

CSB, which will host Gustavus Adolphus in the home opener at 7 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Claire Lynch Hall, used pressure on defense to force 22 turnovers and put together a 27-to-3 advantage in points off turnovers.   

St. Olaf, which had 14 points from Paige Kadodinski and a double double of 11 points and 14 rebounds from Rachel Kelly, owned a 32-18 edge in the paint. Battling a bigger team on the boards, CSB only trailed the rebound battle, 48-40, and held an 11-10 margin in second chance points.

In a game with two tied scores, including at the end of regulation at 56, and five ties, both teams used strong defense to their advantage. Overall, CSB was 23-of-76 for 30.3 percent from the field while St. Olaf finished 23-of-59 for 39 percent. The Bennies had a 8-to-6 advantage in made threes and a 9-to-7 margin in made free throws.

Despite hitting just 4-of-19 shots in the first quarter, CSB trailed just 15-13. In the second quarter, CSB trailed 24-16 with 5:37 to play before closing on a 12-8  run, keyed by two threes from Jonas and one from Olivia Boily, to draw within 32-28 at the break.

In the third quarter, CSB again trailed by eight (38-30, 8:23) before a three from Jonas keyed a quarter-closing run of 13-4 for a 43-42 lead.

St. Olaf had a 14-13 margin in the fourth quarter but Boily, who scored seven points, made a jumper with 33 seconds left, which tied the game at 56 and turnovers by both teams sent the game to overtime. That is when Hay stepped up with a huge three-point play that gave the Bennies the lead for good.