Box Score ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team found itself dead-locked going into halftime for the second straight game, but was unable to overcome a 13-3 to start the second half as the Saints fell 76-57 to the College of Saint Benedict Saturday afternoon at Claire Lynch Hall.
The teams opened up play trading baskets until the Saints' Kelsey Sorenson gave CSS a 21-18 lead with just over ten minutes remaining in the first half. The Saints would use a 7-2 run to extend the lead to 33-25, its largest of the game, with 6:23 left in the half.
Saint Benedict would come storming back to close out the half as the teams heading into the locker room tied at 35-35. CSB shot 50-percent from the field in the first half while CSS countered shooting 44-percent.
Saint Benedict (2-0) opened up the second half on a 13-3 run to extend its lead to 48-38 with five minutes gone by in the half. CSS would rally back at the 12:48 mark as
Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) hit a lay-up to put the Saints just down four on the scoreboard.
That would be as close as the Saints would get as CSB would run out the lead to as much as 17 points before hitting a jumper with four seconds left to seal the win for Saint Benedict by a score of 76-57.
CSB had five players reach double digits in the scoring column with Brianna Barrett leading the way dropping 16 points. Emily Lueck added 13 points off the bench for the Blazers.
CSB finished the game shooting 54-percent from the field, 31-percent from beyond the arc, and 75-percent from the free-throw line. The Blazers held a 44-24 rebounding advantage, committed 17 turnovers, but had nine steals in the contest.
CSS was led by the only double-digit scorer in Hovick, finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Brittani Brennan (Ashland, Wis./Ashland HS) added nine points off the bench while
Kayla Swanson (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS),
Elena Huber (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS), and
Danica Schellbach (Rush City, Minn./Rush City HS) each finished with six points apiece.
The Saints finished the game shooting 39-percent from the field, 46-percent from beyond the arc, and 58-percent from the charity stripe. CSS would commit 14 turnovers and have only seven steals on the afternoon.
St. Scholastica (0-2) will look to get in the win column next week as they face UW-Eau Claire on Thursday. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tune into csssaints.com for updates from this contest.
