ARDEN HILLS, Minn. -- College of Saint Benedict senior Carla Meyer played like it was the final game of her collegiate career Tuesday night (Feb. 20).
 
Which went a long way toward making sure it wasn't.
 
Meyer finished with 22 points as fifth-seeded CSB overcame a sluggish start to top fourth-seeded Bethel, 72-69, on the road in the MIAC quarterfinals at the Robertson Center in Arden Hills.
 
"I knew I had to give it my all," Meyer said. "I didn't know if this was going to be my last game, but I knew I had to play that way. I couldn't hold anything back."
 
The Bennies (15-10) advance to meet No. 1 seed Gustavus (23-3) in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m., Thursday (Feb. 22) in St. Peter, Minn. The Royals - who had defeated CSB in the two regular season meetings (73-56 at CSB; 76-68 at Bethel) between the two teams - finished their season 15-11.
 
"This one was worth the price of admission as they say," said head coach Mike Durbin, whose team has defeated Bethel two straight years in the MIAC quarterfinals (73-55, 2022-23). "I'm so pleased with how our bench played, how we played composed at the times we needed to and how we just battled with them all night."
 
Even when things started rocky. CSB began the game 1-for-11 from the field and fell behind 11-3 with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter. The Bennies still trailed 17-10 at the end of the quarter and were just 4-for-16 from the floor.
 
Yet Meyer, who had her 11th 20-point game of her career, said she and her teammates found a source of energy in the CSB fans who made the trip to cheer them on.
 
"There was a point when we were down and our fans stood up and started clapping for us," she said with a smile. "After that, it was like a switch just flipped. We started making shots."
 
Meyer and company finished the second quarter 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) from the field and trimmed the gap to just three (30-27) at halftime. But that was nothing compared to the third quarter when the Bennies went 9-for-10 (90 percent) from the field and 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
 
CSB tied the score at 36 on a 3-pointer by junior Sophia Jonas (192nd of her career), then took the lead for the first time when a 3-pointer by senior Lydia Hay - who finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds - made the score 39-38 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.
 
Bethel again took the lead by as much as three before the Bennies embarked on a 12-0 run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth.
 
"We made some big plays," said Durbin, whose team is now 17-15 all-time in the MIAC playoffs. "(First-year) Cora Beeler hit a couple of threes to end the third quarter and I thought (junior) Morgan Chmielewski (who finished with eight points and five rebounds) played outstanding in the post. She was undersized, but she just battled and made some huge plays.
 
"We couldn't take her off the court."
 
CSB also got another big game from sophomore Megan Morgan, who finished with 18 points. The Bennies, who finished 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the field in the second half, led by as much as 13 down the stretch, though the Royals battled back and even pulled within one after a basket by senior Anna Garfield, a steal and a subsequent Garfield 3-pointer cut the gap to 70-69 with less than a second to go.
 
But Morgan was fouled and went to the line to hit a pair of free throws to put CSB in the conference semifinals.
 
"I was feeling kind of sad last night," said Meyer, who has 1,213 points in her career for ninth all-time at CSB. "I didn't know how tonight was going to go. But then I re-watched (the Bennies' 76-68 loss at Bethel on Feb. 14). I started feeling like we could beat them. The game was so close last time and I felt like we had more energy. It was all about energy and that's what carried us tonight."