Lady Saints fall to St. Mary’s

Scott Tohott – NSO

The St. Scholastica women’s basketball team scored the first 12 points of the game, but were out-scored in each of the final three periods as Saint Mary’s University defeated the Saints 71-57 on Saturday at the Reif Gymnasium.

Great Start
The Saints got off to a fantastic start as Holly VanKempen (Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central HS) and Sam Brannen (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) combined to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line, while Michala Walther (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and Emelia Miner (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS) each sunk 3-pointers, all before the Cardinals recorded a point as the score was 12-0 with five minutes to go in the first quarter. Saint Mary’s ultimately on the board, but CSS led 16-9 entering the second period. The Cardinals had nine turnovers to go along with their nine points in the quarter.

A 3-point-play cut the margin to five a couple minutes into the second quarter, but Walther responded with a 3-pointer to make it an eight-point game once again. St. Scholastica led by as much as 12 following a Taylor Nowling (Mora, Minn./Mora HS) layup with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

Saint Mary’s takes the Lead
However, Saint Mary’s closed the first half with an 8-0 run to make it 32-28 CSS going into the locker room. The Cardinals controlled the paint in the second quarter, outscoring the Saints 14-6.

At the start of the second half, the Cardinals scored six of the first seven points to take their first lead of the game at 34-33. Later in the quarter a Danielle Cieluch (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East HS) 3-pointer tied the contest at 40-40, which was proceeded by a Cieluch layup to give St. Scholastica a 42-40 lead. Emma Schaefer of Saint Mary’s responded with a 3-point-play and then drained a 3-pointer on the following possession to give Saint Mary’s a 45-42 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Cardinals Pull Away in the Fourth
Saint Mary’s extended the lead to seven early in the fourth, but the Saints cut the margin back to five on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately, that’s as close as they would get as the Cardinals slowly grew their lead by making free throws and exploiting the paint to win by a final of 71-57.

Top Performances for CSS
Walther had 15 points to lead the Saints. Brannen added 12 points and Miner had nine points. VanKempen had a team-high eight rebounds and also blocked three shots.

Top Performances for the Opponent
Brandi Blattner had a game-high 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for a double-double. Sam Jones added 16 points and Emma Schaeffer 13 points.

Up Next
The Saints (0-4) will be at home again tomorrow when they welcome Augsburg College to the Reif Gymnasium. Tip time is scheduled for 3 p.m. and can be seen live on Saints Sports Net.

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