ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Carla Meyer and her teammates on the College of Saint Benedict basketball team have now made three trips to St. Paul since the calendar flipped to 2024.
 
The first two did not go the way the Bennies wanted. But the third turned out more to their liking.
 
Meyer finished with 15 points and five rebounds as CSB rallied from a one-point halftime deficit to down Macalester, 64-49, in MIAC women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Leonard Center.
 
"We were in a close game at halftime, and we knew we needed this one, especially when it comes to getting a good playoff seed," said Meyer, a senior whose team improved to 8-5 in MIAC play (tied for 4th with St. Catherine) and 10-7 overall. "We came out fired up (to start the second half). We started sharing the ball a lot better and making extra passes. We just played a lot better as a team," added Meyer, who moved her career point total to 1,090 for 13th in school history. Meyer, who now has 64 career double-digit scoring games, also hit a triple as she tied Kelly Mahlum for sixth all-time at CSB with 142 made three-pointers. Additionally, the senior standout had a game-high four assists as she increased her career total to 269 and eighth all-time at CSB.
 
The Bennies entered play having dropped four of their past five games, including a couple of heart-breakers in St. Paul - an 86-75 loss in double overtime at St. Catherine on Jan. 13 and a 54-51 loss at Hamline on Jan. 20 in which CSB led by seven in the fourth quarter.
 
After going just 7-for-26 from the field in the first half Saturday (and only 2-for-11 in the second quarter), it looked as if the capital city calamities might be on the verge of continuing. But CSB - which trailed 26-25 going into the locker rooms - started the third quarter on a 10-2 run to seize the momentum.
 
"We had a couple of players break out of shooting slumps and get some confidence back," said Saint Benedict coach Mike Durbin, whose team outscored Macalester, 39-to-23, in the second half as they hit 13-of-30 field goals for 43.3 percent. "But the bigger thing was we started playing really good team defense and we did a great job sharing the ball."
 
CSB out rebounded the Scots, 38-to-33, including 12-to-7 on the offensive end. Many of the offensive rebounds came in the second half and led to a 9-to-5 margin in second chance points. In addition, the Bennies forced 14 turnovers which led to an 18-to-5 margin in points off turnovers.
 
"They're a good rebounding team and we knew we needed to do a better job of boxing out," said Meyer, who banged her nose on the court going for an offensive rebound in the second half. "We started giving ourselves second and third chances."
 
Macalester (8-11, 5-9 MIAC), which was led by 21 points and 10 rebounds from Peyton Starks, cut the gap to as little as six twice early in the fourth quarter, including at 49-43 on a jumper by junior Katherine Norquist with 6:48 remaining. But a steal and lay-up by junior Sophia Jonas kicked off a stretch in which the Bennies scored the next nine points to pull away for good.

Jonas finished with 14 points - including four 3-pointers - and five rebounds. Jonas, who has 41 career double-digit scoring games, now has nine games this year of three or more three-pointers  and 175 in her career as she is just five away from second all-time at CSB (Michelle Barlau, 1999-03, 105 games). Sophomore Kira Young added 14 points and six rebounds while senior Lydia Hay finished with nine points and seven boards. For Young, she now has 11 career double-digit scoring games.
 
The Bennies return to action when they play host to Augsburg at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
"This was an important win for us," Durbin said. "Especially after the way our last two trips to St. Paul have gone. We needed to have this one."