Saints sports week: Saints climbing MIAC women's hoops standings

St. Scholastica women’s basketball bolstered its position for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff berth on Saturday, taking down Macalester 76-55 for a road win in St. Paul.

The Saints got 21 points and seven rebounds off the bench from Proctor native Hope Carlson.

CSS took a 10-point edge out of the halftime break, and though the Scots cut it in half by the early fourth quarter, Jackie Johnson hit back-to-back 3’s to get the edge back into double digits for good.

Johnson finished with 17 points, including four triples as the Saints shot 26-for-50 (52%) from the field.

That win came off the heels of a strong home victory over Carleton, 72-46 in Duluth on Wednesday night.

CSS opened the game on a 9-2 run and was up by double digits to stay by early in the second quarter.

Kloey Lind picked up 18 points and eight rebounds for the Saints, while Madison Kenyon had a 17-point night in 20 minutes off the bench.

CSS (11-8, 8-4 MIAC) finds itself in a three-way tie for third in the conference and two games clear of seventh place with the top six making the postseason. The Saints have six regular-season games remaining starting with a home tilt vs. Saint Benedict on Wednesday night.

A 23-point, nine-rebound game from Aaron Keykal wasn’t enough for St. Scholastica to get over the top in a 79-76 MIAC men’s basketball loss in St. Paul on Saturday.

CSS led 36-31 at halftime but gave up a 9-2 run out of the break to lose their advantage.

The Saints last led with 8:16 to play but gave up seven straight points after that and chased the game the rest of the way as the Scots made 16-for-28 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Kobe Karels and Jacquez Overstreet scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for the Saints.

On Wednesday, Carleton got its offense hot in the first half held the Saints at arm’s length the rest of the way in a 85-67 win at Reif Gym in Duluth.

The Knights were one missed free throw from putting all five scorers into double figures.

CSS got 15 from Tanner Thomson but any attempts to recover from a 45-37 halftime deficit were hampered by 10-for-28 field-goal shooting (1-for-12 from 3-point range) in the second half.

The Saints (7-13, 3-8 MIAC) host Saint John’s on Wednesday.

St. Scholastica’s bid to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season was thwarted by Saint Mary’s on Friday in a 5-2 Cardinals win in Winona, then again in a 3-1 Cardinals win on Saturday.

Proctor/Hermantown alum Reese Heitzman was one of four Saint Mary’s scorers in the first period on Friday, which was more than enough to sink the Saints.

VIctoria Nelson scored in the first period and assisted a third-period consolation goal from Lyndi Schubert for CSS, which got 35 saves from Makenzie Cole.

On Saturday, the Saints were held off the board until a late power-play goal from Nelson with 4:16 to play.

Cole stopped 39 shots for CSS.

The Saints (4-15-0, 2-10-0 MIAC) meet St. Olaf in a MIAC home-and-home starting on Friday in Duluth.

St. Scholastica moved up to second place in the MIAC (albeit with a catch) with a pair of 5-1 home victories over Saint Mary’s on Friday and Saturday at Mars Lakeview Arena.

On Friday, CSS got goals from five different players. Brodie Girod and Tristan Shewchuk both posted a goal and assist, while Wyatt Wurst had a pair of helpers.

Eino Rissanen made a huge difference in the CSS net, turning away 48 of 49 shots.

Rissanen made 44 more saves on Saturday night in a game that might have been tighter than the scoreboard indicated. Shewchuk’s goal late in the second period on a power play was the only tally for either side until Matej Palfy and Gavin Gunderson buried plays nine seconds apart.

The Cardinals spoiled Rissanen’s shutout with 8:49 to play but Gunderson and Girod scored late goals to ice the win.

CSS (11-9-1, 6-6 MIAC) is now on 19 points in the crowded MIAC standings, but much of the league has two games in hand on them.

CSS will try and build its cushion in the standings in a home-and-home against St. Olaf starting on Friday night in Northfield, Minnesota.