ST. PAUL, Minn.- The Hamline women's basketball team (4-3,1-3 MIAC) fell to Saint Benedict (6-0, 2-0 MIAC), who pulled away late to win 66-52 on Saturday afternoon at Hutton Arena.
 
Hamline was led by first year Lydia Leacher who scored a career-high 16 points. First year Tess Hauer also scored a new career-high with 10 points and sophomore Gabby Robinson added seven. Sophomore Chan'el Anderson-Manning contributed with a game-high four assists, while adding six points of her own. 
 
Leacher and senior Reilly Geistfeld led the team's rebounds efforts, each securing six. As a team, Saint Benedict held a slight rebounding edge in the game at 43-38.
 
The Pipers got off to a slow start in the game, as the Bennies held a 23-8 lead after the first quarter. HU bounced back, however, with a strong second quarter, outscoring Saint Benedict 21-9. Seven different players contributed to the 21 points, being led by Lecher's six-point effort. The team shot a game-best 66.7% in the quarter. With the comeback, Hamline headed into the locker room only down by three points, trailing 32-29. 
 
In the third quarter, Saint Benedict slowly started to build a lead, heading into the final quarter with a 10-point advantage. HU was unable to overcome this deficit, getting within eight at one point in the fourth frame, but no closer, as the Bennies closed out the final two minutes on a 6-1 run to win 66-52. 
 
Saint Benedict was led by Alex Johnson and Sidney Schiffler, who each contributed 14 points for the win. Johnson also acquired 19 rebounds for the Bennies.
 
Before four games on the road, HU will play again at home on Wednesday, December 11th at 7:00 pm against MIAC competitor, St. Olaf. They then will head to Naples, Florida for two games at the end of December.