College of Saint Benedict Athletics

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sophia Jonas hit a trio of three-pointers to lead a furious last-minute rally that fell just short as the College of Saint Benedict Basketball Team (16-8, 13-8 MIAC) dropped a 63-60 MIAC decision on the road to Macalester (7-17, 6-15 MIAC) on Wednesday night (Feb. 15).

With the setback, CSB, which had a double double from Carla Meyer of 12 points and 14 rebounds, fell to 16-8 overall and 13-8 in the MIAC while Macalester improved to 6-15 in the league and 7-17 overall. The win by the Scots gave them a split with the Bennies. However, CSB, which has clinched a berth in the conference tourney, remained in fourth place in the MIAC as Bethel lost to Saint Mary's, 70-68.

CSB trailed 58-45 with 1:20 to play in the game before the Bennies hit five straight three pointers, including three by Jonas, to draw within, 63-60 with 20 seconds left to play. Saint Ben's had two chances in the final 15 seconds, but the shots were offline.

Macalester opened an 18-13 lead in the first quarter and with a 14-11 edge in the second quarter had a 32-24 advantage at the half. In the third quarter, CSB had a 13-6 advantage to trail, 38-37. Then, the Scots had a 25-23 advantage in the final quarter as they held off the Bennies to grab the home win.

Leading the way for CSB was Meyer who had her third career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. Meyer, who has had all three-double doubles this season, now has 48 double-digit scoring games plus three with double-digit rebounds. Meyer, whose 14 rebounds was a team-high this year, also surpassed 800 career points (805).

With a trio of triples in the fourth quarter, Jonas finished with 13 points for her 27^th double-digit game of her career. Jonas now has 73 three pointers, which is top 10 in DIII, and 117 for her career as she tied Molly Mark (1996-00) for eighth all-time in made three-pointers in her career. She has the 117 three-pointers in just 49 games.

Boily just missed her career-high (13 points) as she added 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting while grabbing two rebounds.  Senior Tori Szathmary added six points and nine rebounds and had six steals.

The Bennies, which had a two-game winning streak end, hit just 1-of-17 from three-point range entering the final quarter but made 5-of-9 from distance and 6-of-24 for the game. Overall, CSB was 26-of-74 from the field on 42.9 percent shooting but had just two fee throws.

Macalester, which had a 45-40 rebound edge, made 24-of-57 field goals for 42.1 percent. They were 5-of-16 from three-point range and 10-of-18 from the foul line. In the paint, CSB held a 32-to-26 edge and they had 11 points off turnovers. However, CSB was hurt on fouls as they had 16 to four for the Scots.
Peyton Starks had a double-double to lead Macalester as she finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Katherine Norquist had 14 points and eight rebounds while Solana Cushing had 12 points.

1^st Quarter – Six Bennies score but CSB trails at break
Macalester hit 47.1 percent (8-of-17) led by eight points from Starks to take an 18-13 lead after the first quarter. It was a quarter of runs as Macalester had a run of 7-0 to open the game and 6-0 late in the quarter to offset CSB's 7-0 run. In the opening two minutes of the first quarter, Macalester hit three straight baskets, including a three for a 7-0 lead at 8:20 on a three-point basket by Nordquist. With a jumper from Jonas, the Bennies run grew to 7-0 for a 7-7 tie at 4:40 of the quarter. After a five-minute scoring drought, the Scots had six straight points on a pair of baskets from Starks at 2:01 of the quarter. A three from Solana Cushing gave Macalester a 16-9 lead before Boily scored inside at :59. With 25 seconds left, Hannah Johnson's lay-up cut the lead to 16-13. CSB had six players tally points in the opening quarter as the Bennies hit 40 percent from the field.

2^nd Quarter – Scots outscore CSB, 14-11
In the quarter, CSB was outscored 14-11 and trailed at the break, 32-24. Through two quarters, the Bennies were outshot 41.2 percent (14-of-34) to 33.3 percent (11-of-33) by Macalester. The significant difference was that the Scots made four threes to one as the Bennies made just 7.7 percent on three-point shooting (1-of-13). The Bennies, led by Meyer with seven points and eight rebounds, outrebounded Macalester, 23-20.  The Scots, which was led by Starks with 13 points. had a 5-3 run to take a 23-16 lead. Szathmary and Boily had baskets to cut the lead to 23-18. With 4:43 left, Meyer made a jumper before Cushing's driving lay-up reestablished a 27-20 advantage for the Scots. A three from Starks gave the Scotts a 30-20 lead as CSB made just 1-of-12 from three-point range. Meyer had another basket to cut the deficit to 30-22 at the 1:52 mark. With :47 seconds left; Abigail Kuboushek hit a jumper, but the Bennies trailed, 32-24.

3^rd quarter – Boily scores eight in quarter as CSB cuts deficit to 38-37
In the quarter, CSB upped its defensive pressure and had a 13-6 advantage to draw within 38-37 at the break. CSB, which was led by eight points by Boily, hit just 6-of-20 field goals for 30 percent but held Macalester to 3-of-14 for 21.4 percent from the field. Off a steal by Szathmary, Martin's basket cut the deficit to 32-26. Another basket from Martin (lay-up, 6:42) reduced the deficit to 32-28.  With a jumper from Megan Morgan and another by Boily, CSB cut the lead to 34-32 with 3:14 to play. CSB cut the lead to 36-35 on a free throw by Hay before the Scots made a basket for a 38-35 lead. Boily made another basket off an assist from Morgan to pull within 38-37 at the quarter break.

4^th quarter – Jonas leads last minute rally that falls just short
Jonas had a trio of three pointers and with one from Meyer and Morgan as CSB cut a 13-point deficit (58-45, 1:20, 4th) to three points with 20 seconds to go. However, the Bennies, which did not lead all night, was unable to get over the top. Macalester opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run for a 46-37 advantage as CSB missed seven straight shots.  The Scots extended the lead to 51-39 before Szathmary's basket cut the lead to 51-41. Later, the Scots built a 58-45 lead before Meyer and Jonas knocked in threes to pull within 59-51. Another three from Jonas trimmed the deficit to 60-54 with 50 seconds left. And, she hit a third three with 29 seconds followed by Morgan's triple at the 20 second mark to pull CSB with 63-60. Then, Meyer's steal gave CSB an opportunity but the Bennies had two shots offline in the final seconds.