SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023-24: 0-13 MIAC, 2-16 Overall

BETHEL ROYALS

Home | Roster | Stats | Schedule

2023-24: 8-5 MIAC, 10-8 Overall

LIVE ON THE WEB:

Follow Along: Live Stats * Streaming Video

MIAC: WBB Home *  Standings * Schedule

Social: Facebook * X * Threads * Instagram * YouTube

SMU-BU * LAST MEETING:

Dec. 9, 2023 * Arden Hills, MN

L, 66-49 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 24, 2024 * Winona, MN

Hamline * L, 65-55

BETHEL * LAST ACTION:

Jan., 24, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN

Augsburg * W, 66-49

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Jan. 31, 2024 * Moorhead, MN

Concordia * 5:30 p.m.

BETHEL * UP NEXT: 

Jan. 31, 2024 * Arden Hills, MN

Macalester * 7 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference home matchup against Bethel sitting at 2-16 overall, including 0-13 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals put three players in double figures — led by Grace Schaffer with 18 points — but SMU could not hold off hard-charging Hamline down the stretch, as the Pipers used a game-ending 12-2 run to deal Saint Mary’s a 65-55 MIAC setback Wednesday at the SMU Gym.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saturday’s showdown against Bethel is the third straight home contest for the Cardinals, who will play their next three games on the road — at Concordia (Wednesday), at Macalester (Feb. 3), and at St. Scholastica (Feb. 5). … The Cardinals have picked up both of their wins this season on their home court. Saint Mary’s is 2-8 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 Bethel leading the team in scoring, owning a 10.6 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 seven 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 Jan. 17, 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 Jan. 27; Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) tallied a career-best 17 against St. Olaf on Jan. 20; Wall poured in a career-best 13 against Hamline on Wednesday; 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: Cruze has pulled down a team-leading 90 rebounds (5.0 rpg), with Schaffer and Olson close behind with 89 (4.9 rpg) and 86 (5.1 rpg) boards, respectively. The trio are three of four players with 60 or more rebounds, being joined by Schiernbeck (68, 4.0 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 Jan. 17. 

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Saint Mary’s has knocked down 91 3-pointers through 18 games. Fink leads the charge with 22 3-pointers, followed by Wall with 17 and Schaffer with 15, while Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) owns 11 treys and Lettner has 10. … Fink poured in a single-game season-and career-high five 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Jan. 20, going 5-for-7 from behind the arc. … As a team, the Cardinals have drained a season-best nine 3s in a game twice — against Augsburg on Jan. 3 and vs. St. Olaf last Saturday.

• LENDING A HAND: SMU boasts six active players who have reached double figures in assists, led by Wall with 32, Lettner with 25, Fink with 23, Olson with 22, and Schaffer with 21. … Fink dished out a single-game, season-high five assists against Northland on Nov. 14. … As a team, Saint Mary’s has collected 171 helpers, with 12 different players recording at least one assist, and posted a single-game season-high 20 assists against St. Olaf on Jan. 20.

• 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 34.4 percent from the field (351-for-1019), with 91 3-pointers, and have drained 169 of 271 free throws (62.4 %). … SMU is averaging 53.4 ppg, while its 18 opponents are scoring at a 66.8 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.

BETHEL SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Royals head into their mid-week conference matchup against Saint Mary’s sitting at 10-8 overall, including sporting an 8-5 record through the first 13 games of the MIAC slate.

• LAST TIME OUT: Rosalie Penke poured in a career-high 18 points, as Bethel got back on the winning track with a 66-49 conference win over Augsburg Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minn.

• ROAD WARRIORS: After hosting Saint Mary’s in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 9, the Royals have played 11 of their last 12 games on the road — the lone exception, a 72-52 home win over St. Olaf on Jan. 13. … The Royals, whose game against Saint Mary’s is their fourth straight road contest, will close out the regular season playing five of its final six contests at home, beginning next Wednesday against Macalester. … Bethel is currently 3-3 on its home court, while going 7-5 away from the Robertson Center Gym. 

• STREAK-SNAPPER: Bethel’s 73-58 loss to Concordia on Jan. 20 snapped its season-high three-game winning streak. With their bounce-back win over Augsburg on Wednesday, BU comes into Saturday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s 4-1 in its last five contests.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Anna Garfield leads the Royals in scoring, averaging 14.3 ppg through BU’s first 18 contests. She is one of two BU players who carry scoring averaged of 10 or more points into Saturday’s contest, being joined by Elly Schmitz, who boasts an 11.7 ppg average. … Emily Erickson (20), Garfield (22), and Duininck (23) have all scored 20 or more points in a game this season.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Bethel has five players who have amassed 60 or more rebounds this season, led by Garfield with 106 (5.9 rpg). Alli Born is second on the team with 89 boards (4.9 rpg), followed by Penke (77, 4.3 rpg), Schmitz (74, 6.2 rpg), and Emily Erickson (67, 3.9 rpg). … Garfield has three games with 10 or more rebounds and owns a pair of double-doubles. … Schmitz has accounted for BU’s other two double-doubles and posted a single-game season-high 12 rebounds against Concordia on Jan. 20.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: BU has knocked down 83 3-pointers this season, led by Colette Duininck with 19 3s. Born (17), Garfield (14), and Schmitz (11) have also reached double figures in 3-pointers this season. … Garfield and Born each notched a season-high four 3-pointers against Augsburg this season. As a team, BU knocked down a season-high 10 3-opinters in its first meeting with Saint Mary’s on Dec. 9.

• LENDING A HAND: Garfield has dished out a team-leading 47 assists, three more than Duininck, with Born and Penke sitting third on the team with 36 helpers. … Garfield has posted a season-high five assists in a game twice, with Duininck and Born also reaching the five-assist mark this season. … The Royals collected a season-high 16 assists against Thomas (ME) on Dec. 19.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, the Royals are shooting 41.2 percent from the field (404-for-981), with 83 3-pointers, and are 249-for-351 (70.9 %) from the free throw line. … The Royals are averaging 63.3 ppg, with their opponents coming in with a 58.0 ppg scoring average. … Bethel has reached the 70-point mark on five occasions, including netting a season-high 78 points in a 78-61 win over St. Scholastica on Jan. 3. On the flip side, BU has given up 70+ points four times, with Gustavus posting 82 points in beating the Royals 82-68s on Jan. 6. … Bethel has played one overtime game this season, beating Saint Vincent 64-59 on Dec. 20.