ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team (5-1, 1-0 MIAC), which has won four straight games, is set to host Carleton (1-6, 0-1 MIAC) in MIAC play on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Claire Lynch Hall with tipoff set for 1 p.m.
 
St. Benedict, which will face a road test at Saint Mary's in MIAC play at 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 10, is coming off a 60-42 victory over St. Olaf as the MIAC season opened on Dec. 4. On Nov. 30-Dec. 1, CSB defeated Simpson, 76-69, and UW-LaCrosse, 57-54, to win the Gunderson Hotel & Suites Thanksgiving Classic. With the four consecutive wins, the Bennies improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC as they prepare to head to Puerto Rico to face Caltech and John Carroll in the Puerto Rico Clasico on Dec. 16 and 17.

Carleton Notes
Directed by head coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen (286 career wins - 260 at Carleton), who is in her 17th season, the Knights have opened with a 1-6 record overall and 0-1 in MIAC play. Most recently the Knights suffered a 70-39 setback to St. Scholastica in MIAC play. They defeated North Central, 59-41, on Nov. 16 to pick up their win this season. Carleton is averaging 49.0 points while allowing 61.3 per game. The Knights hit 32.2 percent from the field while making 20.2 percent from three-point range. Addy Huss is providing 13.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while Audrey Whiteney is scoring 9.6 points and Bella Thomas, 7.7 points.

Series Notes
In the all-time series between Carleton and Saint Benedict, the Bennies have a 64-17 series edge. The Bennies, which have won four straight, have a 36-7 home record and sit 60-13 in MIAC play against Carleton. In the first match-up between the schools, CSB dropped a 64-58 decision on Feb. 24, 1982. In the most recent match up on Feb. 8, 2023, CSB took an 62-55 win at Claire Lynch Hall.

CSB – By the Numbers
Through six games, St. Benedict has a 65.5-to-56.8 points per game advantage over its opponents. The Bennies are hitting 40.3 percent from the field and 33.6 percent from three-point range. On the glass, opponents have a 39.88-to-32.7 rebound edge.

St. Ben's is led by Megan Morgan, a junior guard who is averaging 13.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Morgan has scored in double-digits five games this season and 18 times in her career. She has hit 150-of-331 field goals for 45.3 percent while connecting on 49-of-138 three-pointers for 35.5 percent. Morgan, who is hitting 82.4 percent on 89-of-108 shooting at the foul line, has 209 career rebounds, 89 assists, 16 blocks and 34 steals. She has scored in double digits in five games this year and has 18 in her career with two 20-point games. Morgan recorded a career-high 26 points against St. Catherine on Feb. 17, 2024.

Senior Sophia Jonas is averaging 10.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this year. Jonas, who has 47 double-digit scoring games (six 20 point games) and 890 career points, hit four threes in the win over St. Olaf and has moved into sixth place on the career three-point chart in the MIAC with 206. With two more threes CSB career 3-point leader moves into fourth all-time.
Her career high is 26 at UW-River Falls on Nov. 16, 2023.  She is the career leader at CSB with 206 triples on 585 attempts for a 35.2 percent mark. In MIAC play, she is sixth with 205 three points. She is two away from fourth place and just seven from taking over second place on the MIAC career chart.

MIAC 3-point leaders all-time
255 - Brooklyn Paulson Saint Mary's, 2018-23
211 - Missy Pederson, St. Thomas 1998-02
210 - Jess Vadnais, Gustavus, 2004-08
207 - Ashley Luehmann, Saint Mary's, 2002-06
207 - Lucia Renikoff, St. Thomas, 2015-19
206  - Sophia Jonas, CSB, 2021-
   
Jonas is also the CSB's and the MIAC's all-time leader for threes in a season with 84 in 2022-23.  Jonas, who also set a MIAC record with 66 made threes in league play in 2022-23, has started 71 games (82 played) and has made 305-of-851 field goals for 35.8 percent, including the 206 threes. She is 74-of-96 from the foul line for 77.1 percent with 203 rebounds, 140 assists and 68 steals.
Senior Olivia Boily is averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds this season and has a pair of double-digit games this year. Her career-best in points is 13 vs Augsburg on Dec. 3, 2022, with her 11 rebounds at Carleton on Jan. 26, 2023.

First-year guard Tatum Findley is averaging 7.5 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 44.4 percent from the floor. She has a career-high of 15 points against UW-River Falls.

First-year guard Lauren Arnold is coming off her best two-game performance at CSB. In each of the games against Simpson and UW-La Crosse, she scored 13 points for her career-high. In fact, she had a run of eight straight made field goals over the two games and finished 8-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-2 from three-point range during the tournament. She is averaging 6.3 points and 1.3 rebounds while making 56.5 percent from the field on 13-of-23 shooting. Additionally, Arnold has hit 3-of-5 three-points and 9-of-12 foul shots while dishing 10 assists with five steals.

First year forward Sofia Baldessari is averaging 7.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. She has six made triples and is 10-of-16 for 62.5 percent from the foul line. She has a high of nine points against Minnesota Morris on Nov. 9 and nine rebounds against Simpson on Nov. 30.

In her first game this season, Kira Young scored 10 points and hit 3 of-5 field goals, including 2-of-3 from three-point range in a road win over UW-Eau Claire. For the season Young is averaging 6.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Young has 294 career points and 152 rebounds. She has a career-best point total of 20 points against St. Catherine on Jan. 13, 2024, and eight rebounds twice against St. Olaf on Feb. 7, 2024, and St. Catherine on Jan. 13, 2024. Young has 14 career double-digit scoring games.
Megan Driste, a junior guard, is averaging 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds. She is coming off a career high of nine points when she hit 3-of-3 from three-point range (career-best).