SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2023-24: 0-11 MIAC, 2-14 Overall
ST. OLAF OLES
Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule
2023-24: 1-10 MIAC, 2-13 Overall
LIVE ON THE WEB:
Follow Along: Live Stats * Streaming Video
MIAC: WBB Home * Standings * Schedule
Social: Facebook * X * Threads * Instagram * YouTube
SMU-STO * LAST MEETING:
Dec. 2, 2023 * Northfield, MN
L, 74-64 * Series History
SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:
Jan. 17, 2024 * St. Joseph, MN
Saint Benedict * L, 84-59
ST. OLAF * LAST ACTION:
Jan. 17, 2024 * St. Paul, MN
Macalester * L, 58-47
SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:
Jan. 24, 2024 * Winona, MN
Hamline * 7 p.m.
ST. OLAF * UP NEXT:
Jan. 24, 2024 * St. Paul, MN
#6 Gustavus * 7 p.m.
SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT
• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference matchup against St. Olaf sitting at 2-14 overall, including 0-11 in conference play.
• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals gave Saint Benedict all it could handle through the game’s opening two quarters, but the Bennies pulled away in the second half, outscoring SMU 48-24 in dealing the Cardinals an 84-59 conference setback Wednesday in St. Joseph, Minn.
• HOME SWEET HOME: After back-to-back road games, Saturday’s showdown against St. Olaf is the first of three straight home contests for the Cardinals, who will entertain Hamline on Wednesday and Bethel next Saturday. … The Cardinals have picked up both of their wins this season on their home court. Saint Mary’s is 2-6 at home this season, while still searching for their first win (0-8) away from the Saint Mary’s Gym.
• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Schaffer heads into the Cardinals’ conference contest against St. Olaf leading the team in scoring, owning a 10.1 ppg scoring average. … Saint Mary’s has had six different players lead or share the team lead in scoring this season. Schaffer has led the way six times, while Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) has been the team’s scoring leader three times.
• GREATER THAN 20: With her career-high 20-point showing against Saint Benedict on Wednesday, Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) came the third Cardinal this season to reach the 20-point plateau. Schaffer posted a 23-point effort against St. Olaf in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 2 and Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) netted 20 points against Martin Luther on Nov. 11. … Saint Mary’s has now had a player score 20 or more points in a game 13 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 six players record career scoring highs of 10 or more points in a game this season. Schaffer delivered a career-best 23 points against St. Olaf on Dec. 2; Olson tallied 20 points against Saint Benedict on Wednesday; Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) tallied a career-best 14 against Augsburg on Jan. 3; Wall poured in a career-best 12 against Bethel on Dec. 9; Lindsey Lettner (Trempealeau, Wis.) notched a career-high with 12 points against Saint Benedict on Nov. 29; and Riley Schiernbeck’s (Ida Grove, Iowa) 11-point effort against Northland on Nov. 14 was also a career high. … Cruze, meanwhile, equaled her career high with her 14-point effort against St. Catherine last Monday.
• 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: Schaffer has pulled down a team-leading 82 rebounds (5.1 rpg), with Olson and Cruze close behind with 81 (5.4 rpg) and 75 (4.7 rpg) boards, respectively. The trio are three of four players with 50 or more rebounds, being joined by Schiernbeck (58, 3.9 rpg). … SMU has had a player reach double figures in rebounds four times this season. Olson grabbed 10 rebounds against Macalester on Jan. 6 and added a 13-rebound effort against Elmhurst on Dec. 29, while Goettelman posted 13 boards against Martin Luther on Nov. 11, and Schaffer pulled down 10 boards against Concordia on Dec. 4. … The 13-rebound performances by Olson and Goettelman, and the 10-rebound showing by Schaffer, were all career-highs.
• DOUBLING UP: Schaffer picked up her first collegiate double-double with her 15-point, 10-rebound showing against Concordia on Dec. 4. 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. … Olson missed out on her first collegiate double-double by one point against Macalester on Jan. 6, and Schaffer came within one rebound of double-double No. 2 against Saint Benedict on Wednesday.
• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Saint Mary’s has knocked down 74 3-pointers through 16 games. Wall, Schaffer, and Fink all share the team lead with 13 3-poniters. … Fink poured in a single-game season-high four treys against Augsburg on Jan. 3, while, as a team, the Cardinals also delivered a season-best nine 3s against the Auggies.
• LENDING A HAND: SMU boasts five active players who have reached double figures in assists, led by Wall with 25, Fink with 22, and Lettner with 20. Schaffer (10), Olson (14), and Cruze (12) have also reached double-digits in assists. … Fink dished out a single-game, season-high five assists against Northland on Nov. 14. … As a team, Saint Mary’s has collected 144 helpers, with 12 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 33.7 percent from the field (306-for-908), with 74 3-pointers, and have drained 158 of 253 free throws (62.5 %). … SMU is averaging 52.7 ppg, while its 16 opponents are scoring at a 67.1 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.
ST. OLAF SCOUTING REPORT:
• FOR THE RECORD: The Oles enter Saturday’s road matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at 2-13 overall, while managing just one win in its first 11 conference contests.
• LAST TIME OUT: Macalester held the Oles to just six points in the second quarter and nine in the third, as the Scots pulled away in dealing St. Olaf a 58-47 setback Wednesday at Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn.
• ROAD TRIPPIN’: Saturday’s game at Saint Mary’s is the second straight road game — and the third in St. Olaf’s last four contests. The Oles will play their next two games on their home floor — hosting sixth-ranked Gustavus on Wednesday and Augsburg next Saturday. … STO has picked up both of its wins on its home floor. The Oles are 2-6 at Skoglund Center, while still searching for their first road win (0-7).
• LIMPING IN: Since beating Saint Mary’s 74-64 on Dec. 2, the Oles have dropped nine straight, with only two of the eight — losses to Augsburg (77-69) and Macalester (71-63) — being decided by less than 10 points.
• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Sarah Tangen comes into Saturday’s game against the Cardinals leading the team in scoring with a 10.4 ppg scoring average. Paige Yagodinski and Chloee Smith are just percentage points away from joining Tangen in double figures, averaging 9.7 ppg and 9.5 ppg, respectively. … Tangen netted a season-high 22 points against Augsburg on Dec. 9, while adding St. Olaf’s only other 20+ point showing against Crown on Nov. 15, finishing with 20 points. … Yagodinski has led the team in scoring a team-high five times — including each of St. Olaf’s last three games.
• CLEANING THE GLASS: Smith has pulled down a team-high 113 rebounds (7.5 rpg) — including 85 on the defensive end. Yagodinski is second on the squad with 89 boards (5.9 rpg), followed by Ziling Zhen with 60 (4.8 rpg) and Tangen with 55 (3.7 rpg). … Smith has recorded four games with 10 or more rebounds — including a season-high 17 boards in St. Olaf’s first meeting with Saint Mary’s. Yagodinski (11) and Zhen (11) have also recorded games of 10+ rebounds.
• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Oles have made just 58 of their 245 3-point attempts (23.7 %) and have just two players — Yagodinski (22) and Tangen (13) —with more than eight treys this season. … Yagodinski has drained a single-game season-high three 3-pointers on three different occasions this season.
• LENDING A HAND: St. Olaf has amassed 165 assists through 15 games, led by Tangen with 35 and Cayden Botten with 26. Yagodinski (25), Zhen (25), Joy Brandenstein (16), Sophia Kormann (16), and Smith (11) have also reached double figures in assists this season. … Smith, Sophia Kormann, and Yagodinski have all delivered a game-high five assists in a game this year.
• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, the Oles are shooting 38.6 percent from the field (324-for-839), with 58 3-pointers, and have drained 133 of 196 free throws (67.9 %). … St. Olaf is averaging 55.9 ppg, while its opponents are scoring at a 69.0 ppg clip. … St. Olaf has scored more than 70 points just once this season, beating Saint Mary’s 74-64 in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 2. On the flip side, the Oles have allowed 80+ points on three occasions — surrendering 87 points in losses to Gustavus (87-47), Saint Benedict (87-63), and Concordia (87-67).
