SAINT MARY’S CARDINALS

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2023-24: 0-17 MIAC, 2-20 Overall

AUGSBURG AUGGIES

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2023-24: 6-9 MIAC, 7-11 Overall

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SMU-AUG * LAST MEETING:

Jan. 3, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN

L, 63-52 * Series History

SAINT MARY’S * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 5, 2024 * Duluth, MN

St. Scholastica * L, 77-61

AUGSBURG * LAST ACTION:

Feb. 3, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN

Hamline * L, 70-46

SAINT MARY’S * UP NEXT:

Feb. 10, 2024 * Winona, MN

St. Catherine * 1 p.m.

AUGSBURG * UP NEXT: 

Feb. 10, 2024 * Minneapolis, MN

Concordia * 1 p.m.

SAINT MARY’S SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Cardinals head into their conference home matchup against Augsburg sitting at 2-20 overall, including 0-17 in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: The Cardinals rallied from a 16-2 deficit, getting within two points late in the third quarter, but St. Scholastica used a 23-13 fourth-quarter run to seal a 77-61 win over Saint Mary’s Monday in Duluth, Minn.

• HOME SWEET HOME: Monday’s game at St. Scholastica was 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 on Wednesday and St. Catherine on 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 (0-11) 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 seven contests. … Schaffer has led the way eight times, while Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) — who netted a team-best 11 points against St. Scholastica on Monday — has been the team’s scoring leader five 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 109 rebounds (5.0 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 (100, 4.5 rpg) and Olson (97, 4.6 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 108 3-pointers through 22 games. Fink leads the charge with 26 3-pointers, followed by Wall with 22, Schaffer with 18, 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 40, Lettner with 30, Fink, Schaffer, and Olson with 26, and Schaffer, and Schiernbeck with 22. … 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 34.9 percent from the field (422-for-1209), with 108 3-pointers, and have drained 214 of 340 free throws (62.9 %). … SMU is averaging 53.0 ppg, while its opponents are scoring at a 68.3 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

AUGSBURG SCOUTING REPORT:

• FOR THE RECORD: The Auggies head into their second matchup against Saint Mary’s sporting a 7-11 overall record, including a 6-9 mark in conference play.

• LAST TIME OUT: Hamline set the tone early, outscoring Augsburg 18-5 in the first quarter, and the Pipers never took their foot off the gas, cruising to a lopsided, 70-46 MIAC win over the Auggies last Saturday in Minneapolis, MN

• ROAD WARRIORS: Beginning with Wednesday’s game at Saint Mary’s, the Auggies play four of their final five games on the road — the lone home game, a date with Concordia on Saturday. Following the Cobbers, Augsburg will play at Gustavus (Feb. 12), at St. Catherine (Feb. 14), and at Macalester (Feb. 17) to close out the regular season. … Augsburg is currently 3-6 on its home court, while going 4-5 away from Si Melby Hall. 

• LIMPING IN: The Auggies head into their road game at Saint Mary’s having dropped back-to-back games — falling to Saint Benedict (74-68) and Hamline (70-46) — and losing three of their last four.

• CARRYING THE OFFENSIVE LOAD: Anja Smith heads into Wednesday’s game as the Auggies’ offensive leader, averaging 12.3 ppg. Smith is the only Auggie who is averaging in double figures in scoring this season. Kalena Myers is second on the team with a 9.7 ppg average, followed by Wakinyela Bear (7.9 ppg) and Amira LaDuke (6.8 ppg). … Smith has scored in double figures nine times, including owning three games of 20 or more points. … Smith netted a season-high 23 points against Bethany Lutheran on Nov. 8, and poured in 20 points in Augsburg’s first meeting against Saint Mary’s on Jan. 3. … Augsburg has had seven different players lead them in scoring, including five different top scorers in the last five games

• CLEANING THE GLASS: Myers has pulled down a team-leading 85 rebounds (4.7 rpg), just three boasts more than Smith (82, 5.5 rpg), while Bear and Melanie Delestrez have each chipped in 69 rebounds (3.8 rpg). … Samaiya Buchanan has recorded two 10-rebound games this season and Smith owns one 10-rebound game, while Myers’ 11-rebound effort against Concordia on Jan. 15 is a single-game season-high.

• FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Augsburg has gone 65-for-277 (23.5 %) from behind the 3-point line, and have two players who had knocked down at least 10 3-pointers this season. Bear leads the Auggies with 26 treys, with Myers chipping in 14. … Bear buried a season-high four 3-pointers against St. Scholastica on Nov. 29. … As a team, the Auggies drained a season-high six 3-pointers against Saint Mary’s in their first meeting on Jan. 3.

• LENDING A HAND: The Auggies have amassed 160 assists in 18 games, led by Katie Manecke with 42 and Myers with 41. Bear (29), LaDuke (11), and Delestrez (10) have also reached double figures in assists this season. … Manecke dished out a single-game season-high seven helpers against Saint Benedict on Jan. 31.

• CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:As a team, the Auggies are shooting 34.4 percent from the field (334-for-970), with 65 3-pointers, and have gone 252-for-372 (67.7 %) from the free throw line. … Augsburg is averaging 54.7 ppg and its opponents are scoring at a 63.7 ppg clip. … Augsburg has scored 60 or more points just four times this season, and has reached 70 points twice — netting 76 against Bethany Lutheran on Nov. 8 (W, 76-69) and 77 vs. St. Olaf on Dec. 9 (W, 77-69). On the flip side, Augsburg’s opponents have scored 70+ points six times, with UW-Stout’s 78 points in a 78-54 win over the Auggies the most points allowed this season.