SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-4 MIAC, 2-4 Overall

CONCORDIA COBBERS

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2023-24: 3-0 MIAC, 4-2 Overall

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SMU-CON * A YEAR AGO:

L, 83-65 * L, 67-61 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 2, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * L, 74-64

CONCORDIA * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 2, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

Bethel * W, 64-55

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Dec. 6, 2023 * Winona, MN

St. Scholastica * 7 p.m.

CONCORDIA * UP NEXT: 

Dec. 6, 2023 * Moorhead, MN

Saint Benedict * 7 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference home matchup against Concordia sitting at 2-4 overall, including 0-4 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) poured in a career high 23 points and Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) chipped in 18, but it was not enough, as the Cardinals fourth-quarter rally fell short in a 74-64 loss to St. Olaf last Saturday in Northfield, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Monday’s game against Concordia is the first of back-to-back home contests for the Cardinals, who play three of their final four games before the Christmas break on their home court. After Monday’s matchup with the Cobbers, SMU will host St. Scholastica on Wednesday, travel to Bethel on Saturday, and host UW-La Crosse on Dec. 13. … Saint Mary’s is 2-1 on its home court this season, while sitting at 0-2 away from the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• 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).

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Goettelman heads into the Cardinals’ conference matchup against Concordia Monday averaging a team-best 11.3 ppg, and has netted 10 or more points in three of SMU’s six games this season. … Schaffer is second on the team in scoring with a 9.7 ppg scoring average, followed by Riley Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) at 5.8 ppg, Autumn Passehl (La Crosse, Wis.) at 5.8, and Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Min.) at 5.0 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 Schaffer’s 23-point effort against St. Olaf last Saturday ad 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 12 times over the past two seasons. … Goettelman has netted 20+ points four times in her collegiate career.

• CAREER SCORING HIGHS: Saint Mary’s has had four players record career scoring highs of 10 or more points this season. Schaffer delivered a career-best 23 points against St. Olaf last Saturday, Lettner and Passehl each tallied career-highs with 12 points against Saint Benedict last Wednesday, while Schiernbeck’s 11-point effort against Northland on Nov. 14 was also 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), Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn. / 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 37 (6.2 rpg), five more than Cruze (32, 5.3 rpg), followed by Schiernbeck (30, 5.0 rpg), Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn. / 25, 5.0 rpg), and Schaffer / 24, 4.0 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 31 3-pointers through six games, with Passehl and Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) leading the way with six each, one more than Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.). Lettner, Schaffer, and Goettelman have all delivered four treys. … SMU poured in a single-game season-high eight 3-pointers against Saint Benedict last Wednesday. … 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: Schaffer heads into Monday’s matchup owning a team-best 10 assists, one more than Passehl and Fink, and three up on Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) and Lindsey Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.). … As a team, Saint Mary’s has dished out 61 helpers, with 10 different players recording at least one assist.

• NOT-SO-CLOSE CALL: 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.

• 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 31.9 percent from the field (123-for-385), with 31 3-pointers, and have drained 73 of 114 free throws (64.0 %). … SMU is averaging 58.3 ppg, while its first six opponents are scoring at 64.7 ppg clip. … 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.

CONCORDIA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers head to the Saint Mary’s Gym for Monday’s matchup against the Cardinals sitting at 4-2 overall, including riding a perfect 3-0 conference mark.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia erupted for 23 first-quarter points and never looked back in posting their third straight conference win with a 64-55 MIAC win over Bethel last Saturday in Arden Hills, Minn.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Monday’s contest at Saint Mary’s is the sixth straight road game for the Cobbers, who opened the season with a home win over UMN Morris on Nov. 8, and have since played road games against UW-Whitewater, UW-Stevens Point, Macalester, St. Catherine, and Bethel. 

• STREAKING ALONG: The Cobbers head to Saint Mary’s Monday riding a three-game winning streak, having dispatched of Macalester (68-49), St. Catherine (75-67), and Bethel (64-55) in its last three contests. … CC’s 68-49 victory over Macalester on Nov. 21 snapped a two-game losing streak.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: The Cobbers boast three players who are averaging in double figures in scoring, led by Carlee Sieben, who owns a 17.0 ppg scoring average. Emily Beseman (12.5 ppg) and Makayla Anderson (12.5 ppg) are also averaging in double figures through six games. … Sieben has led the team in scoring in four of its first six games, and owns both of CC’s 20-point scoring performances — netting 20 points against St. Catherine on Nov. 29 and tallying a season-best 22-point effort against UMN orison Nov. 8.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Anderson is the Cobbers’ rebounding leader with 39 (6.5 rpg) and is one of five CC players with 20 or more boards this season. Genevieve Gruba is second on the team with 25 rebounds (4.2 rpg), followed by Greta Tollefson (24, 4.0 rpg), Beseman (23, 3.8 rpg), and Jordyn Kahler (21, 3.5 rpg). … Anderson has been the team’s rebounding leader in four of CC’s six games. … Anderson (3 times) and Gruba have posted season-high eight-rebound games this season. 

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Concordia has rained in 42 3-pointers in six games, and has gotten at least one 3 from 10 different players. … Sieben leads the team with 14 3-pointers, going 14-for-41 (34.1 %) from behind the 3-point line, with Beseman sitting second with 10 treys. … Sieben drained a single-game season-high six 3-pointers against UMN Morrison Nov. 8.

• LENDING A HAND: Beseman and Sieben have accounted for 28 of the Cobbers’ 70 assists. Beseman leads the team with 17 helpers, followed by Sieben with 12.

• STEALING THE SHOW: Concordia has recorded 83 steals this season and boasts four players — Beseman (17), Anderson (17), Kahler (12), and Sieben (11) — owning 10+ steals. … Anderson recorded a season-best six steals against St. Catherine on Nov. 29.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, Concordia is shooting 35.7 percent from the field (131-for-367) with 42 3-pointers, and is 110-for-138 (79.7 %) from the free throw line. … CC is averaging 69.0 ppg, while the Cobbers’ opponents are scoring at a 61.8 ppg clip. … The Cobbers have outscored their opponents in the first (114-107), third (112-96), and fourth (108-96) quarters, but have been outscored 82-80 in the second. … Concordia has scored 70+ points twice this season, including a season-high 93 points in a season-opening 93-70 win over UMN Morris on Nov. 8.