SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-5 MIAC, 2-5 Overall

ST. SCHOLASTICA

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2023-24: 1-3 MIAC, 2-4 Overall

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SMU-CSS * A YEAR AGO:

W, 74-55 * W, 83-69 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 4, 2023 * Winona, MN

Concordia * L, 64-52

ST. SCHOLASTICA * LAST ACTION:

Dec. 4, 2023 * Duluth, MN

Gustavus * L, 59-40

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Dec. 9, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

Bethel * 1 p.m.

ST. SCHOLASTICA * UP NEXT: 

Dec. 12, 2023 * Ashland, WI

Northland * 6 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference home matchup against St. Scholastica sitting at 2-5 overall, including 0-5 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia used a pair of big runs — 14-4 to close out the first half and an 11-0 fourth-quarter burst — to lift the Cobbers to a 64-52 conference win over the Cardinals Monday at the SMU Gym.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against St. Scholastica is the second 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 home matchups against Concordia and St. Scholastica, SMU will host St. Scholastica on Wednesday, travel to Bethel on Saturday, and host UW-La Crosse on Dec. 13. … Saint Mary’s is 2-2 on its home court this season, while sitting at 0-3 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: Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals’ conference matchup against St. Scholastica averaging a team-best 11.6 ppg, and has netted 10 or more points in four of SMU’s seven games this season. … Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.), who has led the team in scoring in each of their last two games, is second on the team in scoring with a 10.4 ppg scoring average, followed by Autumn Passehl (La Crosse, Wis.) at 6.4 ppg and Riley Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) at 5.3 ppg.

• GREATER THAN 20: With Schaffer’s 23-point effort against St. Olaf on Dec. 2 and 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 on Dec. 2, Lindsey Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.) and Passehl each tallied career-highs with 12 points against Saint Benedict on Nov. 29, 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 40 (5.7 rpg), five more than Schiernbeck (35, 5.0 rpg) and Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn. / 35, 5.0 rpg), followed by Schaffer (34, 4.9 rpg), Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis. / 25, 3.6 rpg), and Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn. / 25, 4.2 rpg). … Goettelman recorded a career-high 13 rebounds against Martin Luther on Nov. 11, while Schaffer pulled down a career-best 10 boards against Concordia on Monday. … SMU had a player record 10 or more rebounds in a game 10 times a year ago — including five times by Cruze.

• DOUBLING UP: Schaffer picked up her first collegiate double-double with her 15-point, 10-rebound showing against Concordia on Monday. She is the second SMU player with her first collegiate double-double this season, being joined by Goettelman, who tallied 20 points and 13 boards against Martin Luther on Nov. 11. 

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Saint Mary’s has knocked down 37 3-pointers through seven games, with Passehl leading the way with eight, two more than Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.). Goettelman, Schaffer, Lettner, and Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) all sitting with five treys. … SMU poured in a single-game season-high eight 3-pointers against Saint Benedict on Nov. 29. … 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 and Schaffer have both dished out 10 or more assists heading into Wednesday’s matchup against St. Scholastica. Fink leads the team with 11 helpers, one more than Schaffer, with Passehl and Lettner both on assist shy of the 10-assist mark. … As a team, Saint Mary’s has dished out 66 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 32.1 percent from the field (143-for-445), with 37 3-pointers, and have drained 79 of 125 free throws (63.2 %). … SMU is averaging 57.4 ppg, while its first seven opponents are scoring at 64.6 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.

ST. SCHOLASTICA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: St. Scholastica heads to Winona, Minn., for its mid-week showdown with Saint Mary’s sporting a 2-4 overall record, including a 1-3 mark in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: CSS was held to nine points in each of the first three quarters, as nationally ranked Gustavus slowly pulled way in dealing the Saints a 59-40 conference loss Monday in Duluth, Minn.

• ROAD WARRIORS: Wednesday’s game at Saint Mary’s is the first of back-to-back road games for the Saints, who head to Ashland, Wis., for a 6 p.m. matchup against Northland on Dec. 12. CSS has played five of its first six games on its home court, going 1-4. The Saints collected a 64-58 win over Augsburg in their only road contest of the season on Nov. 29.

• STREAKING: With their 59-40 loss to nationally ranked Gustavus on Monday, the Saints head into their conference showdown with Saint Mary’s having dropped back-to-back games and five of their last six — the lone win, a 64-58 victory over Augsburg on Nov. 29.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: St. Scholastica boasts a pair of players who are averaging in double figures in scoring this season. Lexi Imdieke leads the CSS offense with a 12.2 ppg average, followed by Kloey Lind at 10.0 ppg. … Imdieke has scored in double figures in three of CSS’s six games, including an 18-point effort against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 18, and a season-high 20-point showing against Crown on Nov. 8. … Imdieke has led the team in scoring in three of its first seven games.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: The Saints has eight players who have reached double figures in rebounds, including three that have eclipsed the 20-rebound plateau. …. Lind leads the squad with 41 boards (6.8 rpg), followed by Jackie Johnson (24, 4.0 rpg) and Gabby Voigt (21, 3.5 rpg). … Lind corralled a season-high 15 boards against Macalester on Dec. 2 en route to a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double — CSS’s only double-double of the season. 

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Imdieke has accounted for one-third of the Saints’ 3-point production this season, draining 11 of the team’s 32 treys through six games. … Johnson (6), Hope Carlson (6), Katie Vaske (4), Hannah Compton (3), Jada Bierschbach (1), and Nia Hacker (1) own the Saints’ other 21 3-pointers. … Imdieke has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in all six games, including a season-high four against Crown on Nov. 8.

• LENDING A HAND: Imdieke has dished out a team-high 11 assists this season, two more than both Vaske and Lind, with Carlson sitting fourth on the team with six helpers. …. Carlson delivered a season-high four assists against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 18.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS: As a team, CSS is shooting 35.2 percent from the field (135-for-384), with 37 3-pointers, and are 81 of 135 (60.0 %) from the free throw line. … The Saints are scoring at a 55.4 ppg clip, while their opponents are averaging 63.4 ppg. … CSS has outscored its opponents 109-101 in the fourth quarter, but have been outscored 101-81 in the first, 113-102 in the second, and 126-96 in the third. … St. Scholastica has reached the 70-point mark just once this season, netting a season-high 71 points in beating Crown 71-54 on Nov. 8. On the flip side, CSS’s opponents have reached 70 points twice, including a season-high 77 points by UW-Stevens Point in a 77-62 win over CSS on Nov. 18.