WINONA, Minn. – First-year guard
Tatum Findley tied her career-high of 15 points and led four players in double digits as the College of Saint Benedict basketball team (7-1, 3-0 MIAC) extended its winning streak to six games with a come-from-behind 68-62 win over Saint Mary's (3-4, 1-2 MIAC) in a road MIAC game on Tuesday (Dec. 7).
With its third straight win to open the MIAC schedule, St. Ben's is tied with Bethel at the top of the MIAC standings at 3-0. And CSB is now 7-1 overall as they head to the Puerto Rico Clasico on Dec. 16-17.
After trailing 22-15 after the first quarter and 28-24 at halftime, the Bennies outscored the Cardinals, 44-34, in the second half to earn the conference victory on the road. It was the ninth straight win by CSB against SMU and the Bennies now lead the all-time series, 61-18.
Findley came off the bench to score 15 points, a mark that she tied for her career-high (UW-River Falls, Nov. 10, 2024). Finley was 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line with three rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes on the floor. CSB also had 13 points from both first-year forward
Sofia Baldessari and junior guard
Megan Morgan while first-year point guard
Lauren Arnold added 10 points, Baldessarri hit 5-of-9 field goals and added five rebounds while Morgan, who had her 20
th career double-digit scoring game, had six rebounds and two assists on the night.
Senior guard
Sophia Jonas hit her 211
th career three-pointer as she moved into a tie for second place for made triples in MIAC history with Missy Pederson of St. Thomas, 1998-2002. Jonas finished with six points, three rebounds, three assists and five steals.
In rallying for the win, CSB outshot SMU, 43.8 percent (21-of-48) to 39.7 percent (23-of-58), although the Cardinals had a 10-to-7 margin in made threes. However, CSB used a 19-to-6 edge in free throws as a key difference. While CSB lost the rebound battle, 36-32, the Bennies also had a 26-to-20 edge in paint points, 11-to-7 in fastbreak points and 22-to-9 in bench points.
Game Summary –
In the opening quarter, Saint Mary's hit 8-of-15 field goals for 53.3 percent, including making 5-of-6 from three-point range to take a 22-15 lead. CSB had a solid shooting effort of 6-of-13 for 46.2 percent but made just two threes.
In the second quarter, both teams struggled shooting with CSB holding a slight edge, of 9-to-6, to cut the lead to 28-24 at the break. While CSB hit just 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from the field, SMU was just 2-of-12 for 16.7 percent. Both teams hit one three pointer.
In the second half, the Bennies took control, starting with a game-changing run in the third quarter. In the third quarter, CSB hit 5-of-11 field goals and made 10-of-11 free throws for a 22-to-13 margin to take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter at 46-41. With a 12-4 run to open the third quarter, CSB took a 36-32 lead after a pair of free throws from Morgan and a three-point play from Findley. With a three from
Megan Driste – second of the game -- the Bennies took a 42-36 lead with 2:24 to play in the third quarter. Morgan hit two more free throws for a 46-38 lead at the 1:06 mark.
In the fourth quarter, the Bennies hit 6-of-11 field goals for 54.5 percent and made 8-of-11 free throws to outscore, SMU, 22-21, to maintain the lead. In fact, CSB built a 16-point lead with 4:14 to play before SMU rallied to cut the lead to six points by the end. SMU hit 7-of-18 field goals and 3-of-9 three-pointers but were forced to foul late and the Bennies used its prowess at the foul line to hold off the home-standing Cardinals.
