SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2022-23: 7-13 MIAC, 8-15 Overall

BETHEL ROYALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2022-23: 12-8 MIAC, 12-11 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Live Stats * Streaming Video * MIAC Standings

Social: Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * YouTube

SMU-BU * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 11, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

L, 60-59 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 11, 2023 * St. Joseph, MN

Saint Benedict * L, 52-41

BETHEL * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 11, 2023 * Northfield, MN

St. Olaf * L, 76-65

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 18, 2023 * Winona, MN

Gustavus * 3 p.m.

BETHEL * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 18, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

Saint Benedict * 3 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals enter their second conference meeting with Bethel on Wednesday sitting at 8-15 overall and 7-13 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals raced out to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter, but could only manage 24 points over the final three quarters in falling to Saint Benedict 52-41 last Saturday at Claire Lynch Hall in St. Joseph, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against Bethel is the first of back-to-back home games to close out the regular season for the Cardinals, who will also host Gustavus on Saturday in their regular-season finale. … SMU is 5-5 in its 10 home games this season, while sporting a 3-10 record away from the Saint Mary’s Gym. 

• STREAK-SNAPPER: The Cardinals’ 52-41 loss to Saint Benedict last Saturday snapped their two-game winning streak. SMU heads into Wednesday’s matchup against Bethel having won three of its last five.

• CLOSE CALLS: Thirteen of the Cardinals’ last 17 contests have been decided by 10 points or less — including seven of their last 10. Those 13 nail-biting contests include wins over Massachusetts Institute of Technology (60-53), Macalester (73-65) and Augsburg (71-63), and losses to UW-Stevens Point (81-79 OT), Penn State Behrend (71-65), Hamline (69-60), Saint Benedict (65-58), Bethel (60-59), Augsburg (50-44), Concordia (69-61), St. Catherine (75-67), Carleton (66-57), and St. Olaf (75-69).

• CARRYING THE LOAD: Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) heads into Wednesday’s matchup against Bethel leading the team in scoring with a 16.1 ppg average, while Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) is also averaging in double figures at 10.4 ppg. … Paulson has netted 10 or more points in 20 of SMU’s 23 games this season. … Paulson has led or shared the team lead in scoring in 15 of SMU’s 23 games — including six of its last seven.

• GREATER THAN 20: Saint Mary’s has had a player score 20 or more points in a game nine times this season. Paulson owns six games or 20 or more points — including a season-high 26-point effort against Hamline on Jan. 30 — while Goettelman and Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) have each scored 20 or more points twice. … Paulson has scored 20+ points 23 times in her collegiate career, while Goettelman has achieved the feat three times and Streveler once.

• GREATER THAN 20 x 2: Paulson and Streveler each reached the 20-point mark in SMU’s 83-69 win over St. Scholastica on Feb. 4, with Paulson scoring 26 points and Streveler adding 21. It was the first time this season SMU has had two players net 20+ points in the same game, and the first time since Jan. 10 of 2020 that the Cardinals had two 20+ point scorers.

• CLIMBING THE LADDER: Paulson, who recorded her 1,000th career point against Gustavus on Feb. 2, 2022, is sitting third all-time with 1,525 career points. Next up on the list — Tricia Rasmussen ’93 (1,880).

• ALONE AT THE TOP: With her two 3-pointers against St. Catherine on Dec. 7, Paulson surpassed Ashley Luehmann ’06 as the all-time career-leader in 3-pointers made. Paulson owns 249 career 3-pointers. The senior also holds the career mark for 3-pointers attempted at 710.

• NO REST: Paulson has started every game during her five-year collegiate career — a program-record 105 consecutive starts. Jessica Thone ’13, who previously held the consecutive starts record at 104, holds the school record for games played at 109. … Paulson played every minute of SMU’s Jan. 30 game against Hamline, marking the third time this season she has played all 40 minutes of a game. She is averaging 35.4 minutes-per-game.

• PERFECTION: Paulson drained 22 consecutive free throws over a four-game span from Jan. 14-21, before having the streak broken with a miss on her final FT attempt against Concordia on Jan. 21. The senior’s streak included a perfect 10-for-10 showing against St. Scholastica on Jan. 14. … Paulson’s 10 made free throws in 10 attempts were a career high and marked the first time an SMU player has gone 10-for-10 or better since Hallie Schmeling was 10-for-10 against St. Catherine on Feb. 13, 2019.

• SPREADING THE WEALTH: Saint Mary’s put four players in double figures for the third time this season in its 71-63 win over Augsburg last Wednesday. The Cardinals also had four players score 10 or more points against St. Catherine on Jan. 25 and vs. Carleton on Dec. 3. … SMU received at least three points from 10 of the 11 players who took the court against Carleton on Dec. 3. … The Cardinals got scoring from 12 different players in their 83-69 win over St. Scholastica on Feb. 4.

• CAREER SCORING HIGHS: The Cardinals have had six players record career-highs of 10 or more points this season: Goettelman (23 points), Streveler (22), Alyssa Coleman (Matteson, Ill. / 17), Graysin Hartjes (Kaukauna, Wis. / 15), Cruze (14), and Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn. / 11).

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Paulson leads the Cardinals with 187 rebounds (8.1 rpg), followed by Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn. / 137, 6.0 rpg), Goettelman (98, 4.3 rpg), Schaffer (80, 3.5 rpg), and Streveler (82, 3.6 rpg). … Paulson hauled in a career-high 17 rebounds against St. Scholastica on Jan. 4. It was the highest single-game performance since Brandi Blattner's 20-rebound showing on Feb. 10, 2018. … Cruze pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds against Hamline on Jan. 20. … SMU has had a player record 10 rebounds in a game nine times — five times by Paulson and four by Cruze.

• DOUBLING UP: Paulson has recorded four double-doubles this season and now owns nine double-doubles in her collegiate career. Cruze has accounted for SMU’s other two double-doubles this season.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Cardinals poured in a season-high 13 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Feb. 1, shooting 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from behind the arc. It marked the second time this season SMU has hit double figures in 3-pointers — having netted 12 against Carleton on Dec. 3. … SMU’s 13 3-pointers were just two shy of the single-game program record of 15, set against Concordia on Feb. 12, 2022. … As a team, SMU has drained 160 3-pointers, led by Paulson (49), Streveler (39), and Goettelman (30). … Streveler matched her season-high with five 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Feb. 1. The senior also delivered five treys against Hamline on Jan. 4.

• LENDING A HAND: Streveler boasts a team-high 70 assists, 17 up on Paulson, while Goettelman has chipped in 38 helpers. The trio have combined for 161 of SMU’s 264 assists through 23 games. … Paulson and Goettelman have each recorded a season-high seven-assist game this season — Paulson against Carleton on Dec. 4 and Goettelman vs. UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 14.

• COMEBACK FOR THE AGES: Saint Mary’s overcame its largest fourth-quarter deficit since the NCAA switched from halves to quarters prior to the 2015-16 season against St. Olaf on Dec. 2, rallying from 19 points down to beat the Oles 62-60.

• WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals’ 81-79 loss to UW-Stevens Point on Dec. 14 was its first overtime game of the season. The Cardinals played just one overtime game a year ago, falling to Hamline 75-71 on Nov. 23, 2021. The Cardinals played a single-season, program-record four overtime games during the 2019-20 season, including three that were decided by two points.

• PROGRAM FIRSTS: The Cardinals’ games against Penn State Behrend and Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Music City Classic on Dec. 29-30 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.

• BY THE NUMBERS:The Cardinals are shooting 38.2 percent from the field (498-for-1305), with 160 3-pointers, and are 290-for-410 (70.7 %) from the free throw line. … SMU is averaging 62.9 ppg, while the Cardinals’ opponents are scoring at a 66.0 ppg clip. … The Cardinals have eclipsed the 80-point twice this season — netting 81 in an 81-67 win over Carleton on Dec. 3, while tallying a season-best 83 points in beating St. Scholastica 83-69 on Feb. 4. The 83 points against CSS marked their highest offensive output since beating Carleton 85-58 on Jan. 8, 2022.

BETHEL ROYALS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into Wednesday’s showdown against Saint Mary’s sitting at 12-11 overall, including 11-7 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: St. Olaf outscored BU 24-15 over the game’s final eight minutes, as the Oles handed the Royals a 76-65 conference setback last Saturday in Northfield, Minn.

• ROAD TRIP: Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s is the second of back-to-back road contests for the Royals — who are in the midst of playing six of seven contests away from Robertson Center Gym. … BU, which closes out its regular-season schedule with a home game against Saint Benedict, owns a 7-3 record on its home, while sitting at 5-8 on the road. 

• LIMPING IN: Bethel heads to Saint Mary’s having lost six of its last seven. BU snapped a five-game losing streak with a 74-60 win over St. Catherine last Wednesday, before falling to St. Olaf three days later.

• LEADING THE CHARGE: Courtney Nuest heads to Saint Mary’s with a team-leading 11.5 ppg scoring average. Nuest is the only Royal averaging in double figures through 23 games. … Anna Garfield is second to Nuest with a 9.7 ppg average, followed by Kendal Cox at 8.4 ppg and Emma Schultz at 8.1 ppg. … BU has had a player score 20+ points in a game three times this season. Nuest owns games of 20 and 24 points, while Garfield boasts a game of 22 points.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Bethel boasts four players who have recorded 100 or more rebounds through 23 games, led by Garfield with 140 (6.1 rpg). Lydia Hagstrom (111, 4.9 rpg), Cox (105, 5.0 rpg), and Nuest (100, 4.5 rpg) have also reached the century mark in rebounds this season. … Hagstrom owns three games with 10 or more rebounds, one more than Garfield, while Nuest has hit double-digits once. … BU has three players who have posted a season-high 11 rebounds in a game — Hagstrom vs. Macalester on Dec. 10, Garfield vs. Carleton on Feb. 4, and Nuest vs. Saint Mary’s on Jan. 11

• RAINING IN 3s: Bethel has amassed 120 3-pointers through 23 games, led by Autumn Earney with 28 and Nuest with 21. Schultz (18), Garfield (15), Colette Duininck (12), and Cox (11) have also dropped in more than 10 treys this season.

• LENDING A HAND: Cox leads the Royals with 45 assists, two more than Nuest and three in front of Garfield. 

• BY THE NUMBERS: Bethel is shooting 37.2 percent (487-for-1308), with 123 3-pointers, and are 250-for-392 (63.8 %) from the free throw line. … The Royals are averaging 58.5 ppg, while their opponents are scoring at a 58.7 ppg clip. … Bethel has eclipsed the 70-point mark four times this season, including a season-high 82 points in beating St. Scholastica 82-64 on Jan. 18. … Fourteen of Bethel’s 23 games this season have been decided by 10 points of less. … BU has played one overtime game, falling to Carleton 58-54 on Feb. 4.