ST. JOSEPH – Senior guard Carla Meyer scored 18 points and led four players in double digits as the College of Saint Benedict basketball team (11-7, 9-5 MIAC) recorded its second straight win with a 74-68 decision over Augsburg (7-10, 6-8 MIAC) on Wednesday night (January 31) at Claire Lynch Hall.

With the victory, CSB is now fourth in the MIAC with a 9-5 record and has an 11-7 overall record.

CSB head coach Mike Durbin, who registered his 741^st win (745 overall, 30th all-time in the NCAA) in his 999^th career game at CSB, lauded the long-distance accuracy, sharing of the basketball and the work on the boards of his team as key to the win.

"We had a lot of success from the perimeter, and it certainly paid dividends for us against a tough team," said Durbin, whose team tied a season-high with 13 made three-pointers in 27 attempts for a solid 48.1 percent from the perimeter. CSB also made 13 in a win over Saint Mary's (84-59) on Jan. 17 at home. "We also shared the ball exceptionally well (16 assists) and won the rebound battle," he said.

While CSB lost the points in the paint battle (36-to-22), CSB forced 18 turnovers for a 16-to-8 margin in points over turnovers and with the rebound edge of 36-to-32 held a 12-to-4 margin in second chance points.

"We worked hard inside and created a number of second-chance opportunities, which proved important for us," noted Durbin, who will coach his 1000^th career game at Saint Benedict on Saturday (Feb. 3) when the Bennies host St. Scholastica at 1 p.m.

Meyer recorded her 65^th career double-digit scoring game as she now has surpassed 1,100 points in her career and sits at 1,108 which ranks 13^th all-time at CSB. In addition, she matched teammate Sophia Jonas with four triples on the night and she now has 146 in her career for sixth all-time. On the night, Meyer was 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the three-point line, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and dishing four assists. She and sophomore guard Megan Morgan, who had 14 points and five rebounds, led CSB with three steals each.

Jonas finished with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. With her 41^st double-digit scoring game, the junior guard now has 770 career points. But of particular relevance, she made 4-of-9 from three-point range and now has 179 career three-pointers and sits just one away from tying Michelle Barlau for second all-time in made threes in school history. As for Morgan, she hit 4-of-7 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws while recording her eighth career double-digit scoring game.

The fourth Bennie in double digits was senior forward Lydia Hay, who had 14 points, four rebounds, three blocks, and two assists. Hay now has 19 career double-digit scoring games, and moved past 500 career points (504).

For the game, CSB had a respectable 42.2 percent shooting mark on 27-of-64 made field goals and that included the 13-of-27 from three-point range. CSB, which made 7-of-11 free throws, had 10 steals and totaled 11 offensive boards.

Game Summary
CSB, which hit 43.8 percent from the field in the opening quarter, including 4-of-9 from three-point range, opened up an 18-9 lead after one quarter of play. In the second quarter, CSB recorded its largest lead of the game of 14 points at the 6:50 mark when Morgan Chmielewski's three-pointer gave CSB a 23-9 lead.

However, the Auggies, who were led by a game-high 19 points by Amira LaDuke, matched the Bennies, 15-to-15, in the second quarter as CSB took a 33-24 lead to halftime.

In the third period, the Bennies had a 20-to-18 scoring advantage as they hit 4-of-8 three-pointers. Augsburg hung tough by making 7-of-13 field goals for 53.8 percent but CSB was able to take a 53-42 margin into the fourth quarter.

It was in the game's final 10 minutes that the Auggies cut the lead to as low as five points on several occasions, including at 56-51, when Maecee Alexander converted a lay-up at the 7:11 mark in the paint off an assist from Katie Manecke, who had seven points, six rebounds and seven assists. The Auggies trailed by five points two more times (58-53, 6:50, 4^th; and 60-55, 4:54) but CSB had the answer each time they drew close. Meyer's three (4:41, 4th quarter), plus a second chance basket from Morgan in the paint gave CSB a 65-55 advantage at the 3:54 mark.

After that Augsburg, which hit 11-of-15 field goals for 73.3 percent and outscored CSB, 26-to-21 in the fourth quarter, was unable to draw any closer than the final score at 74-68. CSB held the lead by hitting 6-of-13 fourth quarter field goals, including 2-of-4 from three-point range and was a sizzling 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.