The Saints never trailed and held the lead for the final 32:30 of the game to secure a 77-53 conference win against the visiting Martin Luther College Knights.

 

St. Scholastica (5-10, 2-4 UMAC) battled early on to build a 41-25 halftime lead. The Saints were led in the first half by sophomore guard Kirsten Haukom (Marshall, Minn./Marshall HS) with 14 points. The key to the Saints' dominant opening half was their defensive presence as they held the Knights (2-13. 1-4) to 40 percent shooting compared to their 63 percent from the floor including over 70 percent from three-point range.

 

All five of the Saints wins this season have come when they led at halftime. Another key for the Saints this season has been holding opponents to under 40 percent from the floor which they have done in four of their five wins.

 

The second half started the way the first half ended as the Saints controlled from the opening whistle to build a lead of 27 with just under 15 minutes remaining. The Saints were again led by Haukom who added nine more in the period and Jessica Nichols who scored eight in the half to give her a career high of 19 points.

 

Defensively the Saints picked up where they left off in the first half and held Martin Luther to under 27 percent from the field and forced them to go 0-for-6 on three-pointers for the game. Holding the Knights to only 33 percent from the field for the game allowed the Saints to cruise to their 24 point win.

 

Despite only having 11 healthy players the Saints reserves were able to play effectively and help the team to victory. Freshman Katie Kimm (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) scored a career high with seven points all of which came in the second half. Kimm also recorded 23 minutes on the floor which eclipses her season total.

 

Comfortable with a large lead the Saints kept attacking as they scored 36 points in the second 20 minutes and never led by less than 16. They were helped in the second half by balanced scoring which featured eight different players registering at least a point.

 

Building large leads has not been a problem for the Saints in their past few games but this is the first one in which they were able to hold on and gain a victory. With the game in hand Coach Deadrick was able to get all 11 of her healthy players into the game.

 

St. Scholastica was led by Haukom (23 points) and Nichols (19 points).

 

Martin Luther was led by Katherine Kogler (19 points, 6 rebounds).

 

**SAINTS**