ST. JOSEPH, Minn. Sophia Jonas knew she had a chance to make history Wednesday night. But the College of Saint Benedict senior tried not to think too hard about it.
 
Jonas entered her team's home matchup against Macalester needing five 3-pointers to break the MIAC career record. She'd hit that many or more in a single game 12 times previously over the course of her Bennie career.
 
But the Scots have traditionally employed a defensive style that's made it hard for her to operate freely on the perimeter. So she wasn't getting her hopes up.
 
"I came into this game with no expectations at all," the 5-foot-6 wing/point guard out of Hudson (Wisconsin) High School said. "I was trying not to think about (the record) because I knew I still had three regular-season games left after this one. There was plenty of time to get it if it didn't happen tonight."
 
But after starting 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, Jonas heated up - finishing with exactly five 3-pointers, giving her a career total of 256. That's one more than the old record, which was set by former Saint Mary's standout Brooklyn Paulson with 255 between 2018 and 2023. 
 
That success helped fuel her team to a second-half surge as St. Benedict - which led by just one point at halftime (31-30) - went on to beat Macalester, 69-58, in MIAC play at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
"We needed every one of those threes," said St. Ben's coach Mike Durbin, whose team improved to 10-5 in MIAC play and 15-7 overall.
 
"When we were preparing for this game, we really thought they'd do everything they could to shut (Jonas) down. Most teams try to do that, and they have good athletes and they're a good defensive team. But she always finds space and she did that again tonight. Her teammates found her and she got the job done," Durbin said.
 
Jonas - who finished with a season-best 23 points - hit two 3-pointers before halftime, then kept going from there. The record-breaking shot came with 6:34 to play and put the Bennies on top, 57-47.
 
"I did start a little slow, but I was just going to keep shooting because that's what I do," said Jonas, who has now scored 20 points or more in a game eight times in her collegiate career. "After I made that first one in the first quarter I started feeling good. From there, I kept knocking them down."
 
Senior Olivia Boily - who played with Jonas at Hudson - tied her career-high with 15 points to aid the winning effort. First-year Lauren Arnold added 13 points and five rebounds. Junior post/forward Kira Young – another Hudson graduate - finished with 12 rebounds, which was the third double-digit rebound total of her career.
 
As a team, the Scots outrebounded CSB, 34-28, but finished just 21-for-58 (36.2 percent) from the field. Macalester senior guard/forward Peyton Starks - who remains the conference leader with an 18.3 points-per-game average - finished with 24 points, but was held to just nine after halftime.
 
"We had a lot of great performances tonight," said Durbin, whose team now sits alone in fourth place in the conference standings with three regular-season games to play.
 
The top six teams at the end of the regular season advance to the MIAC playoffs.
 
"Kira did a great job defending Peyton," Durbin continued. "She's as good as anyone in the conference and she's so hard to guard one-on-one. I just thought we played really well overall as a team."
 
But the night belonged to Jonas, who already set the MIAC single-season 3-point record with 84 (MIAC record of 66 in conference games only) as a sophomore in 2022-23. She now has 63 this season.
 
"To be able to (set the record) at home with my teammates here to support me and all my family in the stands was so cool," she said after posing for pictures following the game. "I'm just trying to take it all in. This is a special moment."