SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-14 MIAC, 2-17 Overall

CONCORDIA COBBERS

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2023-24: 12-2 MIAC, 13-4 Overall

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SMU-CON * LAST MEETING:

Dec. 4, 2023 * Winona, MN

L, 64-52 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 27, 2024 * Winona, MN

Bethel * L, 73-45

CONCORDIA * LAST ACTION:

Jan. 27, 2024 * St. Paul, MN

Hamline * L, 71-55

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 3, 2024 * St. Paul, MN

Macalester * 1 p.m.

CONCORDIA * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 5, 2024 * St. Joseph, MN

Saint Benedict * 5:15 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference road matchup at Concordia sitting at 2-17 overall, including 0-14 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Bethel took advantage of runs of 14-2 in the first quarter and 14-0 in the second — while holding Saint Mary’s to just 12 first-half points — as BU dealt the Cardinals a 73-45 conference setback Saturday at the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• HITTING THE ROAD: Saturday’s showdown against Bethel was the third straight home contest for the Cardinals, who will play their next three games on the road beginning Wednesday at Concordia. … The Cardinals have picked up both of their wins this season on their home court. Saint Mary’s is 2-9 at home this season, while still searching for their first win (0-8) away from the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals’ conference contest against Concordia leading the team in scoring, owning a 10.2 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 four 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 95 rebounds (5.0 rpg), with Schaffer and Olson close behind with 92 (4.8 rpg) and 89 (4.9 rpg) boards, respectively. The trio are three of four players with 60 or more rebounds, being joined by Schiernbeck (69, 3.8 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 95 3-pointers through 19 games. Fink leads the charge with 23 3-pointers, followed by Wall with 18 and Schaffer with 15, while Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) owns 10 treys and Lettner has nine. … 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 34, Lettner with 27, Fink with 24, 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 188 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 34.2 percent from the field (366-for-1069), with 95 3-pointers, and have drained 180 of 289 free throws (62.3 %). … SMU is averaging 53.0 ppg, while its 19 opponents are scoring at a 67.2 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.

CONCORDIA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cobbers head into their mid-week home showdown with Saint Mary’s boasting an impressive 13-4 overall record, including a 12-2 mark in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Concordia could not find its rhythm from outside, going a dismal 1-for-16 from behind the 3-point line, as the Cobbers suffered just their second conference loss of the season, falling to Hamline 71-55 last Saturday in St. Paul, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s is the fifth home game in a six-game stretch for the Cobbers — the lone road game, last Saturday’s win at Hamline. … CC is in the midst of closing out its regular-season schedule playing eight of its last 11 games at home, where the Cobbers are a perfect 7-0. Concordia has gone 6-4 in its nine games away from Memorial Auditorium.

• HITTING A SPEED BUMP: With their loss to Hamline on Saturday, the Cobbers had their season-high seven-game winning streak come to an end. … Since opening the season 1-2, the Cobbers have gone 12-2 in their last 14 games, the lone losses — a 64-60 setback at the hands of nationally ranked Gustavus on Jan. 3 and Saturday’s 71-55 loss to Hamline.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Concordia enters its conference matchup against Saint Mary’s boasting three players who are averaging in double figures in scoring. Carlee Sieben leads the offensive charge for the Cobbers, boasting a 15.6 ppg average, followed by Makayla Anderson (13.4 ppg) and Emily Beseman (11.9 ppg). … Sieben has netted 10 or more points in 14 of the team’s 17 games. … Sieben or Anderson have led the Cobbers in scoring in 16 of their 17 games this season. 

• HITTING 20: Concordia has had a player net 20 or more points in a game five times. Sieben owns four of those 20+ point performances — scoring 20 (twice), 22, and 23 points — while Anderson’s 25-point effort against Saint Benedict on Dec. 6 are the team’s single-game season high.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Anderson has been a rebounding machine for the Cobbers this season, amassing a team-high 132 boards (7.8 rpg). Beseman is a distant second on the team with 75 rebounds (4.4 rpg), followed by Genevieve Gruba with 66 (3.9 rpg). … Anderson has hauled in 10+ rebounds twice this season — including a season-high 13 boards against Gustavus on Jan. 3.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Cobbers are shooting 33.5 percent from behind the 3-point line (118-for-352), but managed just one trey on 16 attempts against Hamline on Saturday. … Sieben leads the team from long range, having knocked down 43 3-pointers, followed by Beseman with 25 and Jordyn Kahler with 14. … As a team, CC poured in a single-game, season-high 13 3-pointers against St. Catherine on Jan. 17, while individually, Sieben’s six 3-pointers against UMN Morris on Nov. 8 are a season high.

• LENDING A HAND: Beseman and Sieben have both accumulated more than 50 assists this season, with Beseman leading the way with 56, three more than Sieben. Anderson has also dished out more than 30 helpers through 17 games, sitting with 34 assists.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, Concordia is shooting 41.4 percent (415-for-1003) from the field, with 118 3-pointers, and has knocked down 299 of 370 (80.8 %) free throws. … The Cobbers are averaging 73.4 ppg, while holding their 17 opponents to just 60.3 ppg. … CC has outscored its opponent in all four quarters and hold a 1247-1025 scoring advantage through 17 games. … Concordia has netted at least 80 points in a game five times, including a season-high 100-point outburst in routing St. Catherine 100-58 on Jan. 17. On the flip side, CC has only allowed two teams more than 67 points this season. UMN Morris netted 70 in falling the Cobbers’ 93-70 on Nov. 8, while Hamline’s 71 points in last Saturday’s 71-55 win were the most allowed by Concordia this season.