ST. JOSEPH, Minn. –  With two games to play in the regular season, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team (15-8, 10-6 MIAC), which has won six of eight games, will host Augsburg (3-20, 1-15 MIAC) at 7:00 p.m., on Employee Appreciation/Senior/Parent's Night on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Claire Lynch Hall.

Free beverages & popcorn & more will be available courtesy of Bernicks and CSB/SJU Human Resources as well as other give-aways and promotions. CSB Basketball will also honor parents and the three seniors on the team - Sophia Jonas, Morgan Chmielewski and Olivia Boily.

CSB is 6-2 over the past eight games after a 73-62 loss to No. 8 Gustavus on Saturday. The Bennies also recently recorded a 69-58 decision over Macalester at home on Feb. 12 when Jonas had a season-high 23 points with five three-pointers while setting the MIAC career three-point record. Prior to an 83-73 setback to Concordia on Feb. 8, CSB had won five straight games including an 84-53 road win over St. Scholastica on Feb. 5. CSB guard Megan Morgan had 22 points in both the Concordia and St. Scholastica contests to lead CSB, which is 7-5 since the holiday break. Prior to defeating the Saints, CSB had a 65-60 win over Carleton College on Feb. 1, as Jonas made six threes and scored 20 points.  St. Ben's also had a 63-52 road win over St. Olaf, a 63-44 home win at Augsburg and a 73-64 home win over Saint Mary.

With two games to play in the regular season, St. Benedict sits 15-8 overall and 10-6 in the MIAC for a tie for fourth place in the conference. CSB, which is battling for one of the six MIAC playoff spots in the postseason playoffs, needs one win in its last two games to clinch a berth. CSB, which will travel to face No. 18 Bethel on Saturday, Feb. 22, 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.  

Notes on Augsburg
Directed by head coach Mallie Doucette, who is in her first season with Augsburg, the Gusties sit 3-20 overall and 1-15 in league play. Doucette joined Augsburg after serving as an assistant coach at NCAA DII Concordia St. Paul for head coach Amanda Johnson. Augsburg has lost eight straight games including a 56-38 decision to St. Catherine on Feb. 15. The Auggies are being outscored by opponents, 66.2-to-50.8 points per game. They hit 33.0 percent from the floor on 18.7 shots per game. At three-point range, Augsburg is making 25.5 percent and shoot 60.6 percent from the free throw line. The Auggies are being outrebounded, 34.0-to-28.8, per game while committing 18.0 turnovers per game to 8.4 for opponents. Amira LaDuke leads the Auggies  at 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game with Lani Fonoti as 9.3 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Series Notes
In the all-time series between Augsburg and Saint Benedict, the Bennies own a 66-15 series edge. In the last meeting, the Bennies had a 63-44 win on Jan. 22, 2025 in Minneapolis. CSB outscored the Auggies, 22-6, in the fourth quarter to grab the win. At home, CSB is 29-10 against Augsburg with an 63-13 overall conference record. CSB, which has won five straight in the series, dropped a 59-50 decision on Dec. 8, 1981 in the first ever meeting between the teams.   
 
St. Benedict – By the Numbers
Through 23 games, St. Benedict has a 65.1-to-60.5 points per game advantage over their opponents. The Bennies are making 40.9 percent from the field with an average of 23.4 shots per game. From three-point range, St. Ben's converts 31.5 percent of its shots with an average of 7.4 triples per outing. Four times, St. Ben's has recorded double-digit threes in a game, including a high of 14 against Minnesota Morris on Nov. 9, 2024. St. Ben's hit nine or more threes in a game four of the past five contests. At the foul line, CSB has made 70.4 percent. On the glass, opponents have a 36.7-to-32.7 rebound edge. CSB has forced 15.1 turnovers which has resulted in 11.9 points per game in points off turnovers. St. Benedict averages 7.1 steals per game and dishes 10.7 assists per game.

Player Notes
St. Ben's is led individually by senior guard Sophia Jonas with 12.7 points per game while junior guard Megan Morgan is supplying 12.2 points per game.
Jonas hit five threes in the win over Macalester to become the MIAC's all-time career leader in made three-pointers. With another three against nationally-ranked Gustavus, the senior guard now has 257 career threes. She surpassed the MIAC mark of 255 by Brooklyn Paulson of Saint Mary's during 2018-2023. Jonas also holds the MIAC season mark of 84 made threes in 2022-23. She has 64 made threes in 2024-25, a mark that leads the league and ranks in the top 25 in DIII.

Jonas is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. With 62 double-digit scoring games, the senior has 1,119 career points (14th, all-time at CSB), and has put together eight 20-point games in her career with the 23 points against Macalester on Feb. 12 her high total this year. At the nine-minute mark of a 63-44 win over Augsburg on Jan. 22, Jonas became the 22^nd player in school history to reach 1,000 points. Against St. Catherine this year, 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, Jonas recorded a career-best five steals. She has made six triples in a game four 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 21 straight games this year and has three or more triples 12 times this year and 51 times in her career. Thirteen times, the Hudson, Wis., standout has made five or more threes in a game during her standout career. She has started 88 games (99 played) and has made 385-of-1,061 field goals for 36.3 percent, including the 257 threes on 734 attempts for 35.0 percent. She is 92-of-120 from the foul line for 76.7 percent with 1,119 points, 265 rebounds, 173 assists and 97 steals.  

Morgan, an exercise, and health sciences major from Winona, Minn., has scored in double-digits 14 times this season in 23 games and 27 times in her career.  She is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. This year Morgan has made 91-of-213 field goals for 43.4 percent, which includes 36-of-104 from three-point range for 34.6 percent. She has knocked down 63-of-74 free throws for 85.1 percent, a mark that ranks second in the MIAC and 12^th in NCAA DIII. In her career, Morgan, who has started 52 and played in 73 games, is 210-of-491 on field goals for 43.4 percent, which includes 75-of-215 for 34.9 percent from three-point range. She is 140-of-168 for 83.3 percent at the foul line.

Morgan has career marks of 641 points, 296 career rebounds, 137 assists, 20 blocks and 48 steals. Morgan, who has five career 20-point games, has scored 22 points three times this year including against Bethel on Jan. 8, St. Scholastica on Feb. 5 and Concordia-Moorhead on Feb. 8.  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, Morgan had her career best.

Senior Olivia Boily is averaging 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds this season and has 10 double-digit games this year and 15 in her career She is shooting 88-of-192 from the field for 45.8 percent. Her career-best in points is 15 points vs St. Olaf on Jan. 29, 2024, and Macalester on Feb. 12, 2025. Her career-best in rebounds is 11 against Carleton on Jan. 26, 2023. Boily has 503 points, 53 steals, 310 rebounds, 59 assists and 28 blocks.

First-year guard Tatum Findley is averaging 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor by hitting 50-of-107 shots. She is 8-of-27 from three-point range and 45-of-60 for 75.0 percent at the foul line. Findley, who has eight double digit scoring games, has a career-high of 15 points against UW-River Falls and Saint Mary's this year.
 
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 10 games of double digit points this year, including in seven straight games, is averaging 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds while making 49.3 percent from the field on 73-of-148 shooting. Additionally, Arnold has hit 15-of-42 three-pointers for 35.7 percent and 36-of-42 foul shots for 85.7 percent while dishing 47 assists with 27 steals.  She had a career-high six rebounds against John Carroll on Dec. 17 and a career-best six assists against Concordia-Moorhead.

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 5.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Young has 387 career points and 261 rebounds. She has a career-best single game point total of 20 points against St. Catherine on Jan. 13, 2024, and set a career-high with 14 rebounds, the most since the 2021-22 season (Carla Meyer, 14). Young has 17 career double-digit scoring games, including three of the past six games, with one career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) which came against St. Olaf on Jan. 29. She has three double-digit rebound games.

Megan Driste, a junior guard, is averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds. She had a career-high of 12 points against Concordia on Wednesday, Jan. 15. She had a career-best three triples against St. Olaf on Dec. 4 and matched the three triples against Concordia and Carleton on Feb. 1.

CSB led by Head Coach Mike Durbin
In his 39th 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 764-292 (.732) overall coaching record and a 760-270 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 36th 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 593-195 mark in conference play. The 593 wins is the most by an active coach in the MIAC. Durbin became the 17th active coach at all levels of the NCAA to reach the 700-win milestone on Feb. 24, 2021, when he earned his 700th win at the College of Saint Benedict with an 88-83 decision over St. Thomas at home at Claire Lynch Hall.