Blazers Coast Past Royals

02/02/2008

The College of Saint Benedict basketball team (12-3 MIAC, 14-4 overall) defeated the Bethel Royals 85-65 in St. Paul. When these teams last met, on Jan. 5, the Blazers faced a nine-point halftime deficit and trailed 12 points in the second half. However, CSB sparked a comeback and held off the Royals in a last-minute showdown. This time around, the Blazers left nothing to chance. From the opening tip, it was all CSB. Leading the charge was sophomore wing Mindy Schmidt (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park High School) with 20 points. Her total, which came on 8-for-10 shooting, tied her season high.

The Blazers cracked the scoreboard first with a three-pointer by senior wing Mackenzie O’Neil (Waseca, Minn./Waseca High School) one minute into the game. CSB led from that point on, and did so in a commanding style. The Blazers built a quick lead and continued to add to it. Midway through the first half, CSB went on a 9-0 run that stretched a 15-10 game to 24-10 in favor of the Blazers. At halftime the lead had grown to 17 with a score of 40-23.

CSB used its momentum to coast through the second half and even grew its lead to 25 points with six minutes left in the game. The Blazers’ tenacity proved to be too much for Bethel. CSB scored 30 points off of turnovers, while the Royals scored only nine points in this category. Much of the Blazer defense stemmed from O’Neil and her five steals.

Contributing greatly to the effort on both ends of the floor was first-year post Danielle Frank (Caledonia, Minn./Caledonia High School). Frank scored a season-high 18 points. She also recorded 15 rebounds and four steals. Frank grabbed 12 of her 15 boards on offense and played a large role in the Blazers’ 23 second chance points.  It was clear that CSB out-hustled their opponents as the Royals only recorded 12 points on put-backs. Sophomore wing Anne Kuduk (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View High School) chipped in 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from three-point range.

The Blazers are next in action when they take on Gustavus at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 4 at home in Claire Lynch Hall.

Stats | Basketball | CSB Sports

Peter Banick, CSB Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant

Athletic Department
College of Saint Benedict
37 South College Avenue
St. Joseph, MN 56374
320-363-5301
Fax 320-363-6098