01/27/06

No loss is ever looked at as a good one, but this one was simply not pretty.

Their were few high points for the Saints in a 54-38 loss to the Knights in New Ulm on Friday evening. Among the low points:

• their 17 points in the first half, and 38 point game total were the lowest output from a Saints squad in at least four years
• the Saints were out rebounded 58-41 by the Knights
• they were 1 for 20 from behind the 3-point line
• their 22% shooting from the field was the lowest in 19 games this season

Sarah Klocke, one of the two seniors leading the way so far this season for the Saints, did have her second double-double in three games. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds and is now averaging 14.6 points per game.

However, the other half of the senior duo, Jen Kne, was held to only 2 points -- more than 14 points under her season average entering the game.

Truth be told, though, neither team was at the top of their game.

In the opening half, the Knights shot only 28% from the field to grab a 20-17 lead over the Saints who shot 23% in the half. Martin Luther was 0-6 from the 3-point line while the Saints were 0-8.

Only when the Knights were able to improve to 42% shooting in the second half was either team able to sustain anything that might open up a comfortable lead.

St. Scholastica ran off four straight conference wins after opening the UMAC portion of the schedule with consecutive losses. They've now lost two in a row to drop to 4-4 in the conference and into fourth place. During their four game win streak they averaged 70 points a game, but in this two-loss streak they are averaging a futile 41 points per game.