ST. JOSEPH, Minn. –  The College of Saint Benedict basketball team (14-6, 9-4 MIAC), which has won five straight games in MIAC play, will host Concordia-Moorhead (13-7, 8-5 MIAC) at 1:00 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 8.

Following an 84-53 road win over St. Scholastica, the Bennies extended their winning streak to five games. Led by 22 points from Megan Morgan and 15 by Sophia Jonas, CSB rolled to the win as they moved to 6-4 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 a season-high 20 points.  St. Ben's winning streak also includes a 63-52 road win over St. Olaf, a 63-44 home win at Augsburg and a 73-64 home win over Saint Mary. As a result, St. Benedict improved to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in the MIAC, which places them in a tie for fourth in the MIAC with Hamline.

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. 

Honors
Of note, Jonas was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 17.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in two wins. In the victories she had a combined 11 three pointers. It was the fifth time in her career that Jonas has been named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week. She was also named the St. Cloud Orthopedics/CSB Athlete of the Week for a second time.

Notes on Concordia
Directed by sixth-year head coach Kim Wagers, Concordia has opened with a 13-7 overall record and 8-5 in MIAC play. Most recently, the Cobbers have won two straight games, including a 76-57 win over Hamline on Feb. 1 and a 69-63 overtime win against St. Olaf on Feb. 5. As a team, the Cobbers average 69.5 points while giving up 59.9 per game. They have hit 40.7 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three-point range. It is a team that is led by Carlee Sieben, who averages 15.8 points per game and has 49 threes (38 percent shooting). Makayla Anderson is supplying 15.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

Series Notes
In the all-time series between Concordia and Saint Benedict, the Bennies own a 47-43 series edge. St. Ben's, which lost to the Cobbers, 80-68, on Jan. 15 in Moorhead, Minn., has a 32-14 mark at home but sits 15-29 at Moorhead and 40-36 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 20 games, St. Benedict has a 64.7-to-58.9 points per game advantage over their opponents. The Bennies are making 40.8 percent from the field with an average of 23.4 shots per game. From three-point range, St. Ben's converts 31.1 percent with an average of 7.3 triples per outing. At the foul line, CSB has made 68.8 percent. On the glass, opponents have a 33.8-to-37.0 rebound edge. CSB has forced 15.4 turnovers which has resulted in 13.0 points per game in points off turnovers. St. Benedict averages 7.3 steals per game and dishes 11.0 assists per game.

Player Notes
St. Ben's is led individually by guards Megan Morgan and Sophia Jonas, who are both averaging 12.3 points per game. Morgan, who also grabbed 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists, has scored in double-digits 12 times this season in 20 games and 25 times in her career. This year Morgan has made 80-of-184 field goals for 43.5 percent, which includes 32-of-89 from three-point range for 36.0 percent. A junior guard from Winona, Minn., she has made 54-of-64 free throws for 84.4 percent. In her career, Morgan, who has started 49 and played in 70 games, has hit 202-of-462 field goals for 43.7 percent, which includes 71-of-200 for 35.5 percent from three-point range. She is 131-of-158 for 82.9 percent at the foul line. She has career marks of 606 points, 286 career rebounds, 131 assists, 20 blocks and 47 steals. Morgan, who has four career 20-point games, recorded a season-high 22 points against Bethel on Jan. 8 at home and matched it with 22 points in the win over St. Scholastica on Feb. 5. 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 Sophia Jonas is averaging 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this year. Jonas, who has 60 double-digit scoring games and 1,073 career points (11.2 points per game/career), has 249 career made three-pointers, which includes 56 this year. The 56 triples in 2024-25 by Jonas ranks first in the MIAC and 24th in NCAA DIII.  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 18 straight games this year and has three or more triples 11 times this year and 50 times in her career. Twelve 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
249 – 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 85 games (96 played) and has made 370-of-1,029 field goals for 36.3 percent, including the 249 threes on 708 attempts for 35.2 percent. She is 84-of-110 from the foul line for 76.4 percent with 1,073 points, 256 rebounds, 167 assists and 93 steals. She ranks 15^th all-time at CSB with the 1,073 points. She is three points from 14^th all-time (Jill Literski, 1,075, 1992-96, 106 games). With 249 threes, Jonas is CSB's career three-point leader and ranks second all-time in the MIAC (Brooklyn Paulson, Saint Mary's, 255, 2018-23).

Senior Olivia Boily is averaging 8.1 points and 4.0 rebounds this season and has eight double-digit games this year and 13 in her career She is shooting 73-of-160 from the field for 45.6 percent. Her career-best in points is 15 vs St. Olaf on Jan. 29, 2024. Her career-best in rebounds is 11 against Carleton on Jan. 26, 2023. Boily has 468 points, 49 steals, 301 rebounds, 57 assists and 26 blocks.

First-year guard Tatum Findley is averaging 8.0 points and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor by hitting 49-of-101. She is 8-of-24 from three-point range and 38-of-50 for 76.0 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 seven games of double digit points this year, is averaging 8.0 points and 2.5 rebounds while making 48.8 percent from the field on 59-of-121 shooting. Additionally, Arnold has hit 11-of-33 three-pointers for 33.3 percent and 31-of-37 foul shots for 83.8 percent while dishing 38 assists with 23 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 5.2 rebounds per game. Young has 364 career points and 240 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 16 career double-digit scoring games with one career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) which came against St. Olaf on Jan. 29. She has two double-digit rebound games.

Megan Driste, a junior guard, is averaging 3.8 points and 2.4 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 763-290 (.732) overall coaching record and a 759-268 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 592-193 mark in conference play. The 592 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.