Box Score HANCOCK, Mich. (csssaints.com) –
Kelsey Sorenson-Giffrow (Braham, Minn./Braham HS (Minn. Duluth)) drained five 3-pointers as the St. Scholastica women's basketball team held off Finlandia University (Mich.) Saturday afternoon, winning 66-62 in the final non-conference game of the regular season.
The win gives Head Coach
Stacy Deadrick her 250th of her career at CSS.
The Saints scored the first five points of the contest and led 10-2 three minutes in. The Lions kept it within eight the rest of the first half, getting it down to one multiple times. However, CSS finished the half on a 6-0 run to lead 34-27 at halftime.
The Saints shot 44 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while the Lions were 23 percent.
Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) had nine rebounds and five assists in the first half.
Erin Frase (Phillips, Wis./Phillips HS (UW-River Falls)) led the Saints with 10 points at the break.
CSS climbed its lead to 13 at the start of the second half thanks to five points from Sorenson. However, Finlandia hung around and got the CSS lead down to 60-58 with three minutes to play. A
Caitlin McKernon (Coon Rapids, Minn./Fridley HS) three-point play climbed the lead back to five.
With the score at 63-60 with over a minute to go, Sorenson connected on a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring to make it 66-60. The Saints would go on to win 66-62.
Sorensen was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the second half to finish at 5-for-7 for the game. She had 18 of her 21 points in the second half. The Saints shot 42 percent from the field for the game, while the Lions finished at 27 percent. However, the Lions were 18-for-20 from the free throw line. The CSS bench out-scored the Finlandia bench 22-0.
Frase was held scoreless in the second half, to finish at 10 points for the game. Hovick grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and matched a career-high with nine assists. McKernon finished with nine points and six rebounds. Marissa Burke poured in 31 points for the Lions (4-10).
The Saints (5-6) open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play Tuesday, January 14th at home against Northland College. Tip time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. All of the action can be seen live on Saints Sports Net.
