SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-19 MIAC, 2-22 Overall

GUSTAVUS GUSTIES

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2023-24: 17-1 MIAC, 21-2 Overall

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SMU-GAC * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 10, 2024 * Winona, MN

L, 74-32 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 10, 2024 * Winona, MN

St. Catherine * L, 60-44

GUSTAVUS * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 12, 2024 * St. Peter, MN

Augsburg * W, 75-50

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

End of Regular Season

GUSTAVUS * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 17, 2024 * St. Peter, MN

Hamline * 1 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their regular-season finale against Gustavus sitting at 2-22 overall, including 0-19 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals put three players in double figures, led by Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) with 12 points, but it was not enough, as St. Catherine held SMU to 12 points or less in all four quarters in dealing Saint Mary’s a 60-44 MIAC setback Saturday at the SMU Gym.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Saturday’s game against St. Catherine was the final home game of the season for the Cardinals, who have picked up both of their wins this season on their home court. Saint Mary’s is 2-11 at home this season, while still searching for their first win (0-11) away from the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals’ season finale against Gustavus leading the team in scoring, owning a 10.0 ppg scoring average. … Schaffer has netted 10 or more points a team-leading nine times. … Saint Mary’s has had six different players lead or share the team lead in scoring this season. Schaffer has led the way eight times, while Wall— who has led the team in two of its last three games — has been the team’s scoring leader six 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 seven 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; Cruze collected a career-high 16 points against Augsburg on Wednesday; Wall poured in a career-best 13 against Hamline on Feb. 5; 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.

• 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.

• NOT MANY FREEBIES: The Cardinals took just two free throws — making both – in last Saturday’s 60-44 loss to St. Catherine. It was the second time this season SMU had been held to less than five free throw attempts, going 1-for-4 against Saint Benedict on Nov. 20.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Cruze has pulled down a team-leading 127 rebounds (5.3 rpg), marking the second straight season in which the season has reached the 100-rebound plateau. She collected a career-high 153 boards a year ago. … Olson (114, 5.0 rpg) and Schaffer (105, 4.4 rpg) have also eclipsed the century mark in rebounds, with Schiernbeck chipping in 91 (4.0 rpg). … SMU has had a player reach double figures in rebounds five times this season. Olson has achieved the feat three times — including a career-high 13 boards against Elmhurst on Dec. 29, while Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn. / 13), Cruze (12), Schaffer (10) have also pulled down 10+ rebounds in a game this season. … The 13-rebound performances by Olson and Goettelman, and the 10-rebound showing by Schaffer, were all career-highs. … As a team, SMU hauled in a season-high 59 rebounds against Martin Luther on Nov. 11

• DOUBLING UP: Cruze posted her first double-double of the season — and third of her collegiate career — with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Augsburg on Feb.7. … Cruze is one of three SMU players with a double-double this season, being joined by Schaffer (15 points, 10 rebounds vs. Concordia on Dec. 4) and Goettelman (20 points, 13 boards vs. Martin Luther on Nov. 11). … The double-doubles by Schaffer and Goettelman were collegiate firsts. … 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. … Both Wall and Olson came within one board of double-doubles in last Saturday’s loss to St. Catherine. 

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Saint Mary’s has knocked down 123 3-pointers through 24 games. Fink leads the charge with 30 3-pointers, followed by Wall with 27, Schaffer with 20, and Lettner and Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) with 11. … 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 on Jan. 20.

• LENDING A HAND: SMU boasts six players who have reached the 20-assist mark, led by Wall with 42, Lettner with 37, Olson with 29, Schaffer with 27, Fink and with 26, and Schiernbeck with 23. … Lettner dished out a single-game, season-high seven assists against Augsburg on Wednesday. … As a team, Saint Mary’s has collected 231 helpers, 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 34.3 percent from the field (457-for-1332), with 123 3-pointers, and have drained 223 of 352 free throws (63.4 %). … SMU is averaging 52.5 ppg, while its opponents are scoring at a 68.0 ppg clip. … Saint Mary’s 78 points against Northland on Nov. 14 were a season-high. … SMU shot a season-best 43.8 percent from the field (21-for-48) against Macalester last Saturday

GUSTAVUS SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Gusties head into their final two games of the regular season sitting at 21-2 overall, including a league-leading 17-1 record in conference play

• LAST TIME OUT: Gustavus raced out to a 24-5 lead after the game’s opening quarter, and the Auggies never hand a chance, as GAC rolled to a 75-60 win over Augsburg Monday evening in St. Peter, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s is the third of four straight home games to close out the Gusties’ regular-season schedule. … GAC is currently a perfect 10-0 on its home court this season — and 35-2 at home over the past three years — while sporting an 11-2 record away from Gus Young Court.

• STREAK-SNAPPER: GAC had its season-high 12-game winning streak snapped with a 73-65 loss to Concordia on Feb. 7. Gustavus had not lost since dropping a 71-61 nonconference decision to fourth-ranked Rhode Island on Dec. 20. … The loss to the Cobbers also put an end to the Gusties’ 33-game MIAC win streak — dating back to a 70-66 loss to Bethel on Jan. 4, 2023. … Since falling to CC, GAC has rattled off back-to-back wins over Saint Benedict (96-66) and Augsburg (75-50) in its last two games.

• IN THE POLLS: With their loss to Concordia on Feb. 7, the Gusties dropped from a season-best No. 5 in the WBCA Poll to No. 8 this week. GAC also slipped from No. 4 to No. 7 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Gustavus heads into Wednesday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s boasting three players who are averaging in double figures — all within percentage points of each other. Syd Hauger leads the way for the Gusties, sporting an 11.8 ppg, followed by Emma Kniefel at 11.4 ppg and Rachel Kawiecki at 11.3 ppg. …Hauger and Kawiecki have both netted 10 or more points 17 times this season, while Kniefel has reached the 10-point barrier 15 times. … Izzy Quick's 26 points in GAC’s loss to Concordia on Feb. 7 are the most scored by a Gustie since Ava Gonsorowski tallied 29 against Hamline on Jan. 22, 2020, and her 18 rebounds are the most since Hannah Howard also collected 18 boards against St. Catherine on Feb. 15, 2017. 

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Quick has dominated the glass for the Gusties this season, hauling in 142 rebounds in 23 games (6.2 rpg). Kawiecki is third boards shy of 100, sitting at 97 (4.2 rpg), while Kniefel (94, 4.1 rpg), Morgan Kelly (87, 3.8 rpg), Hauger (86, 3.8 rpg), and Kylie Baranick (80, 3.5 rpg) have also recorded at least 80 rebounds this season. … Quick has recorded three games of 10 or more rebounds, with one double-double — posting season highs in points (26) and rebounds (18) against Concordia on Feb. 7. … Kawiecki also owns a double-double this season, hitting 10 points and 10 boards against St. Scholastica on Dec. 4. … GAC pulled down a season-high 54 rebounds against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 26.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Gustavus has knocked down 132 3-pointers this season, going 132-for-397 (33.2 %). … Kniefel leads the team with 22 3-pointers, one more than Hauger, with Kelly (18), Baranick (17), Lexi Schermann (17), Emily Bowron (11), and Emy Wolkow (10) also reaching double figures in 3s this season. … Gustavus poured in a season-high 12 3-pointers in GAC’s first meeting with Saint Mary’s on Jan. 10, with Schermann leading the way, knocking down a single-game season-high five of those 12 treys.

• LENDING A HAND: Baranick has amassed a team-leading 94 assists through 23 games, with Kniefel a distant second at 69. Kawiecki is third on the team with 51 helpers, followed by Quick with 45 and Hauger with 42. … Baranick dished out a single-game season-high 10 helpers against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 26.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, the Gusties are shooting 49.0 percent from the field (654-for-1335), with 132 3-pointers, and are 300-for-436 (68.8 %) from the free throw line. … GAC is averaging 75.6 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 52.0 ppg. … Gustavus has scored 90 or more points five times — all coming in the last 18 days. GAC netted 96 in routing Saint Benedict 96-66, while scoring a season-high 101 points in back-to-back wins over St. Catherine (101-49) on Jan. 27 and St. Scholastica (101-58) four days later. On the flip side, only two opponents have scored 70+ points against the Gusties in both of their losses this season. Rhode Island finished with 71 in a 71-61 GAC loss, while Concordia tallied 73 in knocking off the Gusties 73-65 on Feb. 7.