SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-16 MIAC, 2-19 Overall

ST. SCHOLASTICA

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2023-24: 5-10 MIAC, 8-11 Overall

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SMU-CSS * LAST MEETING:

Dec. 6, 2023 * Winona, MN

L, 63-58 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 3, 2024 * St. Paul, MN

Macalester * L, 67-60

ST. SCHOLASTICA * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 3, 2024 * St. Joseph, MN

Saint Benedict * L, 62-45

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 7, 2024 * Winona, MN

Augsburg * 7 p.m.

ST. SCHOLASTICA * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 7, 2024 * Arden Hills, MN

Bethel * 7 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference road matchup at St. Scholastica sitting at 2-19 overall, including 0-16 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Mary’s could not have scripted a better start to their conference showdown with Macalester last Saturday, scoring the game’s first 14 points. The Scots, however, rallied and used a 23-13 fourth-quarter burst to deal the Cardinals a 67-60 setback at Leonard Center Gym in St. Paul, Minn.

• HITTING THE ROAD: Monday’s game at St. Scholastica is the third straight road contest for the Cardinals, who will return to the Saint Mary’s Gym for their final two home contests against Augsburg (Wednesday) and St. Catherine (Saturday). … 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 (0-10) away from the Saint Mary’s Gym.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) heads into the Cardinals’ conference contest against St. Scholastica 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 — including five different players in the last six contests. … Schaffer has led the way eight times, while Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) has been the team’s scoring leader four times. … Schaffer has netted 10 or more points a team-leading nine 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 107 rebounds (5.1 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. … Schaffer (99, 4.7 rpg) and Olson (95, 4.8 rpg) have each exceeded 90 rebounds, with Schiernbeck chipping in 76 (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. … As a team, SMU hauled in a season-high 59 rebounds against Martin Luther on Nov. 11

• 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 104 3-pointers through 21 games. Fink leads the charge with 25 3-pointers, followed by Wall with 21, Schaffer with 17, and Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) with 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 on Jan. 20.

• LENDING A HAND: SMU boasts six players who have reached the 20-assist mark, led by Wall with 37, Lettner with 29, Olson with 26, Fink with 25, and Schaffer with 25. … Fink dished out a single-game, season-high five assists against Northland on Nov. 14. … As a team, Saint Mary’s has collected 209 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 34.6 percent from the field (403-for-1166), with 104 3-pointers, and have drained 195 of 310 free throws (62.9 %). … SMU is averaging 52.6 ppg, while its opponents are scoring at a 67.9 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

ST. SCHOLASTICA SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: St. Scholastica enters its second meeting with Saint Mary’s sitting at 8-11 overall, including sporting a 5-10 record in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Saint Benedict outscored the Saints 34-12 in the second half — including 15-3 in the fourth quarter — in dealing CSS a 62-45 conference setback last Saturday in St. Joseph, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: St. Scholastica is in the midst of playing five of their final seven regular-season games on the road — the lone home contests, Monday’s matchup against Saint Mary’s and a Feb. 10 meeting with St. Olaf. … The Saints are sitting at 3-8 in 11 home contests this season, while going 5-3 away from Reif Gym this season. 

• LIMPING IN: With their Saturday loss to Saint Benedict, the Saints saw their losing streak climb to three straight, having fallen to St. Catherine (45-40) and #6 Gustavus (101-58) prior to last Saturday’s 62-45 loss to Saint Benedict. 

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: St. Scholastica boasts two players who are averaging in double figures in scoring — Kloey Lind (11.9 ppg) and Lexi Imdieke (10.5 ppg). Hope Carlson is third on the team at 9.0 ppg, followed by Jada Bierschbach (7.6 ppg) and Jackie Johnson (7.0 ppg). … Lind has scored in double figures 10 times, including a pair of 20+ point performances. … Lind delivered a season-high 24 points against UW-Superior on Dec.16. … CSS has had a player reach 20 points in a game four times, with Carlson owning the team’s top single-game performance with 28 points against Saint Benedict on Jan. 6.

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Lind has been a rebounding machine for the Saints, posting 155 boards (8.2 rpg). She is one of four CSS players with 70 or more rebounds this season, being joined by Gabby Voigt (93, 4.9 rpg), Carlson (85, 4.5 rpg), and Johnson (73, 3.8 rpg). … Lind has pulled down 10 or more rebounds six times — with five of those resulting in double-doubles. … Lind collected a season-high 15 rebounds against both Macalester (Dec. 2) and St. Olaf (Jan. 15). … As a team, the Saints notched a season-high 49 rebounds against St. Olaf on Jan. 15.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: St. Scholastica is shooting 27.5 percent from behind the 3-point line, going 114-for-414. … CSS has five players with 10 or more 3-pointers, led by Imdieke with 31. Johnson (23), Carlson (22), Katie Vaske (14), and Hannah Compton (13) have also reached double digits in 3-pointers. … Johnson and Imdieke have each drained a season-high five 3-pointers in a game this season.

• LENDING A HAND: Lind owns a team-best 30 assists, and is one of four players with 20+ helpers through 21 games. Vaske (25), Imdieke (25), and Voigt (22) are the others. … St. Scholastica posted a season-high 17 helpers against Northland on Dec. 12.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, St. Scholastica is shooting 36.8 percent from the field (381-for-1035), with 114 3-pointers, and are 232-for-337 (68.8 %) from the free throw line. … CSS is averaging 58.3 ppg, with its opponents coming in with a 61.8 ppg scoring average. … The Saints have reached the 70-point mark three times this season, highlighted by a 77-point showing in beating UW-Superior 77-74 on Dec. 16. On the flip side, CSS has allowed at least 74 points five times, including a season-high 101 points by Gustavus in a 101-58 win over the Saints on Jan. 31. … St. Scholastica has played one overtime game, falling to Macalester 60-57 on Dec. 2.