ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team (9-4, 4-2 MIAC), which has won eight of the past 11 games, will face a road test against Concordia-Moorhead (8-5, 3-3 MIAC) in MIAC play at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn.

St. Benedict stands 9-4 overall with a 4-2 mark in the MIAC which places them in a tie for third place with four other teams. CSB dropped a 78-69 decision to Bethel (10-3, 6-0 MIAC) at home on Jan. 8 and fell to St. Catherine (7-6, 2-4 MIAC) on Jan. 11. Since the holiday break, CSB is 1-2 which includes a home 47-44 win over Hamline on Jan. 4.   

After facing Concordia-Moorhead, CSB will return home on Jan. 18 for a 1 p.m., game against St. Scholastica on Youth Day at Claire Lynch Hall.

This season in the MIAC, CSB also has home MIAC wins over St. Olaf, 60-42, on Dec. 4; and Carleton College, 72-52, on Dec. 7 and a road win at Saint Mary's, 68-62, on Dec. 10. At the Puerto Rico Clasico on Dec. 16-17, CSB recorded a 54-41 win over Caltech and took a 63-59 overtime defeat to John Carroll. 

Notes on Concordia
Directed by sixth-year head coach Kim Wagers, Concordia has opened with an 8-5 overall record and 3-3  in MIAC play. Most recently, the Cobbers have won 5-of-6 games, including a 60-57 decision at St. Olaf on Jan. 11 and a 77-46 decision at home against St. Catherine on Jan. 8. On Jan. 4, they dropped a 63-58 decision to Saint Mary's. Concordia is averaging 73.2 points while allowing 60.3 points per game. The Wildcats hit 42.4 percent from the field while making 40.0 percent from three-point range and 76.0 percent at the foul line. In rebounding, Concordia has a 37.6-to-35.7 rebound margin. Carlee Sieben, who is hitting 40.7 percent (33-81) from three-point range, leads the way with 16.1 points per game. Makayla Anderson is supplying 14.3 points and leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.

Series Notes - CSB leads, 53-8
In the all-time series between Concordia and Saint Benedict, the Bennies own a 47-42 series edge. St. Ben's, which lost to the Cobbers, 81-66, on Feb. 5 in St. Joseph, Minn., has a 32-14 mark at home but sits 15-28 at Moorhead and 40-35 in conference play.     In the first match-up between the schools, CSB dropped a 94-47 decision on Jan. 9, 1982

St. Benedict - By the numbers
Through 12 games, St. Benedict has a 63.6-to-57.8 points per game advantage over its opponents. The Bennies are hitting 40.1 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from three-point range and 65.3 percent at the foul line. 

On the glass, opponents hold a 36.9-to-34.4 rebound advantage while CSB has forced 15.7 turnovers while committing 14.6 as CSB has produced 11.3 points per game from turnovers. The Bennies also averages 10.6 assists and 7.0 steals per game.

Player Notes 

St. Ben's is led by junior guard Megan Morgan, who is averaging 12.9, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Morgan has scored in double-digits nine times this season and 22 times in her career. This year Morgan is shooting 57-of-121 from the field for 47.1 percent, including 22-of-63 from three-point range for 34.9 percent. She has hit 32-of-38 free throws for 84.2 percent. In her career, she is 179-of-399 for 44.9 percent from the field and has 61 three-point field goals in 174 attempts for 35.1 percent.  Morgan, who is hitting 82.6 percent on 109-of-132 shooting at the foul line, has career marks of 528 points, 249 career rebounds, 112 assists, 18 blocks and 39 steals. Morgan, who has three career 20-point games, recorded a season-high 22 points against Bethel on Jan. 8 at home. She also has career-high 26 points against St. Catherine on Feb. 17, 2024. Her career high in rebounds is 10 twice, including against Hamline on Dec. 10, 2022, and on Feb. 17, 2024, against St. Catherine when she had her only double double of her career. With seven assists against Carleton on Dec. 7, 2024, the Winona, Minn., native had her career best.

Senior Sophia Jonas is averaging 11.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this year. Jonas, who has 53 double-digit scoring games (six 20-point games) and 970 career points, had four triples in the win over Hamline and is first all-time at CSB and sits second all-time in MIAC history for made three-pointers with 226. In the loss to St. Catherine on Jan. 11, Jonas had her career-first double double with 16 points and a career-best 11 rebounds. She has a career-high 26 points vs UW-River Falls on Nov. 16, 2023. Against Saint Mary's on Dec. 10, 2024, she had a career-best five steals. She has made six triples in a game three times in her career, including twice in 2023-24 (UW-River Falls, Minnesota Morris). Six times, she has had five assists in a game, including three times in the 2024-25 season. Jonas has made at least one three in 11 straight games this year and has three or more triples seven times this year and 46 times in her career. Ten times, the Hudson, Wis., standout has made five or more threes in a game during her standout career.

MIAC 3-point leaders all-time
255 - Brooklyn Paulson Saint Mary's, 2018-23
226 – 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 78 games (89 played) and has made 333-of-925 field goals for 36 percent, including the 226 threes on 640 attempts for 35.3 percent. She is 78-of-102 from the foul line for 76.5 percent with, 970 points, 236 rebounds, 155 assists and 84 steals. 

Senior Olivia Boily is averaging 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds this season and has four double-digit games this year and 10 in her career She is shooting 48-of-103 from the field for 46.7 percent. Her career-best in points is 13 vs Augsburg on Dec. 3, 2022, with her career-best in rebounds being 11 against Carleton on Jan. 26, 2023. Boily has 399 points, 41 steals, 276 rebounds, 52 assists and 24 blocks. 

First-year guard Tatum Findley is averaging 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor. She has a career-high of 15 points against UW-River Falls and Saint Mary's this year. Four times she has double-digit points, including each of the past two games she has played.

First-year guard Lauren Arnold was named St. Cloud Orthopedics/CSB Athlete of the Week after hitting the game-winning shot with 2:30 left in the game in a 47-44 win over Hamline on Jan. 4. Arnold set her career high in points with 15 against St. Catherine on Jan. 11.    Arnold, who has five games of double digit points this year, is averaging 7.2 points and 2.3 rebounds while making 50 percent from the field on 33-of-66 shooting. Additionally, Arnold has hit 9-of-19 three-pointers and 19-of-23 foul shots for 82.6 percent while dishing 19 assists with 15 steals.  

First year forward Sofia Baldessari is averaging 8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds. She has seven made triples and is 17-of-29 for 58.6 percent from the foul line. Baldessari scored a career-high 14 points in the win over Carleton when she was 7-of-9 from the field, also a career-best. She also has a high of nine rebounds against Simpson on Nov. 30. Baldessari has four games of double-digit points, which have occurred over the past six games. 

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 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. Young has 310 career points and 179 rebounds. She has a career-best single game 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 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds. She had a career-high of nine points when she hit 3-of-3 from three-point range (career-best) in the win over St. Olaf on Dec. 4. She ranks third on CSB with 14 threes in 48 attempts for 29.2 percent.
 
CSB led by Head Coach Mike Durbin
In his 39^th season, Durbin has coached 74 All-MIAC First Team selections, 55 honorable mention athletes, 15 players named to the All-MIAC Defensive Team and 15 all-first year team picks. Durbin has a 758-288 (.731) overall coaching record and a 754-266 mark with Saint Benedict. He ranks 15th among all active coaches regardless of NCAA division and has the most wins by an active DIII coach. He ranks 36nd all-time for most wins in a career, regardless of division. He is third all-time in wins in NCAA DIII.  In addition to his outstanding overall coaching record at CSB Durbin holds a 587-191 mark in conference play. The 583 wins is the most by an active coach in the MIAC.  Durbin became the 17^th active coach at all levels of the NCAA to reach the 700-win milestone on Feb. 24, 2021 when he earned his 700^th win at the College of Saint Benedict with an 88-83 decision over St. Thomas at home at Claire Lynch Hall.