ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - For the second straight weekend, the College of Saint Benedict basketball team will host a tournament, as the Bennies (2-0) welcome Central College, Simpson College and Concordia College for the MN v Iowa Clash Friday-Saturday, Nov. 13-14.  

 

Simpson (0-2) and Concordia (2-1) will kick off the weekend with a 6:15 p.m. bout Friday night, followed by CSB vs. Central (2-1) at 8:15 p.m. Saturday will begin with a 12 p.m. contest between Concordia and Central, while Saint Ben's will battle Simpson at 2 p.m. to close out the tournament. 

 

Saint Benedict enters the weekend off a 65-46 win over Loras College Saturday, Nov. 7. Junior Drew Buslee (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) led all scorers with 23 points while tying for the team-high in rebounds with seven. Fellow junior Lauren Arnold (Chanhassen, Minn./Chanhassen) notched a team-best 11 assists to go along with 11 points, recording her first double-double. The 11 helpers are the most by a Bennie since Ashley Brown recorded 12 against Concordia College Dec. 8, 2003.  

 

The strong opening weekend landed Buslee and sophomore Emma Theisen (Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount) a slew of honors, as both represented CSB on the all-tournament team. Buslee, the MVP of the tournament, hauled in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Offensive Player of the Week honors and was also tabbed The House/St. Cloud Orthopedics CSB Athlete of the Week Monday, Nov. 9. Theisen joined in on the weekly accolades as well, as she received the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week honor. It marked the first time Saint Benedict has swept the conference weekly awards since 2010.  

 

Two games into the young season, Buslee leads the team with 41 points, an average of 20.5 per game. First-year Sophia Amundson (St. Paul, Minn./Two Rivers) sits second on the squad with 20 points, followed by 16 from Arnold. Arnold's 15 assists are a team-best, while Buslee follows with six. First-year Liz Vitt (Edina, Minn./Edina) rounds out the top-three with five helpers.  

 

Defensively, Theisen leads the Bennies with 15 rebounds, closely followed by 13 from Buslee. Junior Alyssa Sadlovsky's (Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy) nine boards are good for third. Theisen also leads the team with eight steals and three blocks. Arnold is second with five steals, while Buslee rounds out the top-three with four. Amundson is the only other Bennie with multiple blocks, as she has two rejections.  

 

Dating back to 1993, CSB and Central have meet three times prior to this weekend. The Bennies are 1-2 against the Dutch, having only beaten Central in 1994. The last meeting between the two squads occurred Nov. 18, 2000, with CC snagging a 61-58 win over Saint Ben's. The 1993 contest saw CSB lose on a heartbreaker in the NCAA Final Four, as a last-second shot by the Dutch stunned the then-Blazers, the No. 1 team in the country, 60-59. Central will have a familiar face at the scorers table, as CSB Director of Athletic Communications Meredith Mahoney is a 2022 graduate. The Dutch come to town off a 63-51 victory ove Grinnell College Wednesday night, Nov. 11. 

 

The Bennies will battle Simpson for the sixth time since 2005, owning a slim 3-2 edge in the series. CSB snagged the most recent contest with the Storm, 79-69, Nov. 30, 2024. Arnold led the Bennies with 13 points, while Sofia Baldessari snagged a team-leading nine rebounds. Megan Morgan tallied a team-best six assists and Olivia Boily added in three steals to power the defense. The Storm make the trip after falling 102-47 to No. 6 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Sunday, Nov. 8. 

 

For all information regarding the tournament, including links to the live stream and live stats, click here.