Box Score Box Score
NEW ULM, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team got revenge on Martin Luther College, who defeated the Saints in the final game of the regular season last year, and came out on top today 81-78 to secure home court for the first round of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament.
With Presentation College upsetting Northwestern College today, the Saints will be the No. 3 seed in the UMAC Tournament and will host Presentation in Duluth on Tuesday night.
The Saints jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening moments of the contest. CSS led 13-8 before the Knights went on a 7-0 run take their first lead of the game at 15-13 with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Saints then went on an 8-0 run to go up by seven and led by as many as 10 with 7:32 remaining in the half. Martin Luther cut the margin to three at the end of the first half as the score was 42-39 CSS.
Both teams shot 48-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. St. Scholastica drilled seven, 3-pointers in the half and had a 14-6 edge on second-chance points.
CSS opened up a nine-point lead at the onset of the second half and it got as high as 10 on three different occasions. With the Saints still holding an eight-point lead with three minutes to go, the Knights would get the lead down to two, following a 3-pointer with 1:24 left.
After #Kirsten Haukom# (
Sr.-Marshall, Minn.) made one of two free throws, Martin Luther's Erica Babinec would make a jumper and get fouled in the process with 16 seconds left. She would miss the tying free throw, but the Knights got the offensive rebound and had a chance to win. Following a timeout, Babinec would miss a lay-up and #Katie Kimm# (
Jr.-Mora, Minn.) grabbed the defensive rebound and calmly made two free throws to extend the lead to three with six seconds left. The Knights would not get up a shot attempt in the waning seconds as the Saints prevailed 81-78.
Last season the Knights won the regular season finale on the Saints' home court and forcing CSS to travel to New Ulm for the first round of the UMAC Tournament.
The Saints shot 46-percent for the game, while the Knights shot 45-percent. CSS finished with a program-record 12, 3-pointers. Martin Luther finished with nine, 3-pointers. The Saints bench outscored the Martin Luther bench 36-7.
#Alexa Leighton# (
Sr.-Superior, Wis.) matched a career-high with 16 points, making four, 3-pointers. #Bri Allen# (
Fr.-West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley) added 15 points,
Kirsten Haukom (Marshall, Minn./Marshall HS) had 13 and #Laura Amys# (
So.-South Range, Wis./Superior) finished with her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Sarah Free had 32 points to lead the Knights.
The Saints finish the regular season with a 12-13 overall record and a 7-7 UMAC record. The Knights fall to 10-14 overall and finish 6-8 in the conference.
The Saints will host Presentation College in the opening round of the UMAC Tournament on Tuesday night at Reif Gym. The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The action can be seen live on the web, courtesy of the iFan Sports Network, at csssaints.com.
