SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-2 MIAC, 2-2 Overall

SAINT BENEDICT BENNIES

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2023-24: 0-0 MIAC, 2-1 Overall

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SMU-CSB * A YEAR AGO:

L, 65-58 * L, 52-41  * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 21, 2023 * St. Paul, MN

Hamline * L, 71-47

SAINT BENEDICT * LAST ACTION:

Nov. 16, 2023 * River Falls, WI

UW-River Falls * L, 82-75

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Dec. 2, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * 1 p.m.

SAINT BENEDICT * UP NEXT: 

Dec. 2, 2023 * St. Joseph, MN

Hamline * 1 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their home conference matchup against Saint Benedict sitting at 2-2 overall, including 0-2 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary’s suffered a second-quarter offensive cold spell, getting outscored 20-12, and never recovered, as Hamline slowly pulled away in dealing the Cardinals a 71-47 MIAC setback on Nov. 21 at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against Saint Benedict is the third home game of the season for the Cardinals, who opened with back-to-back home games, before playing two straight on the road. … SMU — which dispatched of both Martin Luther (61-56) and Northland (78-30) in its two home contests this season — is now 8-6 in its last 14 home games, while sitting at 3-11 in its last 14 road contests.

• STREAK-SNAPPER: The Cardinals’ loss to St. Catherine on Nov. 17 snapped their season-opening two-game winning streak. The back-to-back wins marked the first time SMU had opened the season with two straight wins since opening the 2015-16 season with wins over Crown (88-34) and Saint Benedict (75-67).

• CLOSE CALLS: With their season-opening five-point, 61-56 victory over Martin Luther on Nov. 11, 15 of the Cardinals’ last 23 contests have been decided by 10 points or less — including nine of their last 16.

• NOT-SO-CLOSE CALLS: The Cardinals 48-point, 78-30 win over Northland on Nov. 14 was their most-lopsided victory since a 54-point, 88-34 win over Crown on Nov. 21, 2015. … Northland’s 30 points scored on Nov. 14 were the fewest allowed by the Cardinals since holding Crown to 29 in a 107-29 victory on Nov. 23, 2013, while the LumberJills’ six-point second and third quarters were the fewest points allowed by SMU since the NCAA went back to the quarter system prior to the 2015-16 season.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals’ conference matchup against Saint Benedict Wednesday averaging a team-best 11.5 ppg, and has netted 10 or more points in two of SMU’s four games this season — scoring 20 points in SMU’s season-opening win over Martin Luther and adding 11 points against St. Catherine on Nov. 17. … Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) is second on the team in scoring with a 7.8 ppg scoring average, followed by Riley Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) at 6.5 ppg. … Nine of Goettelman’s team-leading 20 points against Martin Luther on Nov. 11 came from the free throw line, where she was 9 of 11.

• GREATER THAN 20: With Goettelman’s 20-point performance against Martin Luther on Nov. 11, Saint Mary’s has now had a player score 20 or more points in a game 11 times over the past two seasons. … Goettelman has netted 20+ points four times in her collegiate career.

• CAREER SCORING HIGHS: Schiernbeck’s 11-point effort against Northland on Nov. 14 was a career high. … The Cardinals had six players record career-highs of 10 or more points last season — including returners Goettelman (23 points), Alyssa Coleman (Matteson, Ill. / 17), Cruze (14), and Schaffer (11).

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: The Cardinals got scoring from 12 different players in their 78-30 win over Northland on Nov. 14. … SMU finished 2022-23 with two games in which 10 or more players scored. SMU received at least three points from 10 of the 11 players who took the court against Carleton on Dec. 3, and got scoring from 12 different players in their 83-69 win over St. Scholastica on Feb. 4.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Goettelman leads the Cardinals in rebounds with 29 (7.3 rpg), five more than Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn. / 24, 6.0 rpg), followed by Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis. / 19, 4.8 rpg) and Schiernbeck (19, 4.8 rpg). … Goettelman recorded a career-high 13 rebounds against Martin Luther on Nov. 11. … Cruze finished last year with 153 rebounds (6.1 rpg), and pulled down a career-high 14 boards against Hamline on Jan. 20, 2023. … SMU had a player record 10 or more rebounds in a game 10 times a year ago — including five times by Cruze.

• DOUBLING UP: Goettelman’s 20-point, 13-rebound performance against Martin Luther on Nov. 11 was her first collegiate double-double. … Cruze entered this season with a pair of double-doubles.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Saint Mary’s has knocked down 17 3-pointers through four games, with Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn. And Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) leading the way with four each, while Goettelman and Autumn Passehl (La Crosse, Wis.) both own three treys. … The Cardinals drained 172 3-pointers a year ago, and poured in a season-high 13 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Feb. 1, 2023, shooting 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from behind the arc. … SMU’s 13 3-pointers were just two shy of the single-game program record of 15, set against Concordia on Feb. 12, 2022.

• LENDING A HAND: Fink leads the Cardinals with nine assists, three more than Wal and Passehl … As a team, Saint Mary’s has dished out 40 helpers, with nine different players recording at least one assist.

• STEALING THE SHOW: Goettelman and Lindsey Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.) have each accounted for seven of the team’s 36 steals through four games.

• PROGRAM FIRST: SMU’s Nov. 14 game against Northland was the first between the two teams in program history. It’s the third time in the last two seasons Saint Mary’s has faced an opponent for the first time. The Cardinals’ games against Penn State Behrend and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at last season’s Music City Classic marked the first time in program history that the teams had met on the basketball court. SMU fell to Penn State Behrend 71-65, while knocking off MIT 60-53.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:The Cardinals are shooting 30.0 percent from the field (78-for-260), with 17 3-pinters, and have drained 58 of 85 free throws (68.2 %). … SMU is averaging 57.8 ppg, while limiting its first four opponents to just 60.0 ppg. … Saint Mary’s 78 points against Northland on Nov. 14 were a season-high. … The Cardinals eclipsed the 80-point twice last season — netting 81 in an 81-67 win over Carleton on Dec. 3, 2022, while tallying a season-best 83 points in beating St. Scholastica 83-69 on Feb. 4, 2023. The 83 points against CSS marked their highest offensive output since beating Carleton 85-58 on Jan. 8, 2022.

SAINT BENEDICT SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Bennies head to Saint Mary’s boasting a 2-1 overall record, with their matchup against the Cardinals marking their conference opener.

• LAST TIME OUT: Not even a career-high 26 points from Sophia Jonas would be enough to get the Bennies past UW-River Falls, as the Falcons dealt the Bennies their first loss of the season, 82-75, on Nov. 16 in River Falls, Wis.

• HOME SWEET HOME: After opening the season with back-to-back home games — both wins — Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s will be CSB’s second consecutive road game. The Bennies lost their road-opener on Nov. 16, falling to UW-River Falls 82-75, while beating UMN Morris (70-54) and Northwestern (79-70) in their two home contests.

• CLOSE CALLS: Saint Benedict’s last two games have both been decided by less than 10 points. CSB beat Northwestern by nine (79-70) and lost to UW-River Falls by seven (82-75).

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: With her career-high 26-point performance against UW-River Falls on Nov. 14, Jonas pushed her team-leading scoring average to 24.3 ppg. Jonas is one of two Bennies who enter Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s averaging in double figures in scoring, being joined by Carla Meyer (12.3 ppg), while Kira Young is sitting third on the team at 9.7 ppg. … Jonas has scored 20 or more points in all three CSB games — 22 against Northwestern (Minn.), 25 vs. UMN Morris, and 26 vs. UW-River Falls.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Young owns a team-best 16 rebounds in three games (5.3 rpg). She is one of four Bennies who have reached double figures in rebounds through the season’s first three games. Lydia Hay (14, 4.7 rpg), Meyer (10 (3.3 rpg), and Morgan Chmielewski (10, 3.3 rpg) have also reached the 10+ rebound mark. … CSB has had a different player lead the team in rebounds in each of its first three games. … Hay hauled in a season-high nine boards against UW-River Falls on Nov. 16.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Bennies have poured in 29 3-pointers in three games, with Jonas accounting for 16 of them. … Jonas is shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc (16-for-38), while Megan Driste (4), Meyer (3), Megan Morgan (3), Young (1), Hay (1), and Chmielewski (1) have accounted for CSB’s other 13 treys. … CSB has connected on 10 or more 3-pointers twice this season — netting 10 against UW-River Falls on Nov. 16 and draining a season-high 11 against UMN Morris on Nov. 10.

• LENDING A HAND: Meyer, Morgan, and Young all share the team lead in assists nine, three more than Jonas, Driste, and Chmielewski. … As a team, Saint Benedict has dished out 49 assists in three games.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:The Bennies head into their conference-opening road game at Saint Mary’s shooting 46.6 percent from the field (88-for-189), with 29 3-pointers, and have gone 19-for-27 (70.4 %) from the free throw line. … CSB is averaging 74.7 ppg, while the Bennies’ opponents are scoring at a 68.7 ppg clip. … CSB has scored at least 70 points in each of its first three games, including a season-high 79-point effort in beating Northwestern (Minn.) 79-70. … Saint Benedict has outscored its opponents in the middle two quarters — 69-63 in the second and 63-43 in the third — but have been outscored in both the first (58-54) and fourth (42-38).