ST. JOSEPH - All season long, Mattie Lueck has been a key player for the College of St. Benedict basketball team.
The junior from Pequot Lakes leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assists, and generally gets the ball when the Blazers need points.
That was never more true than last week when, with four seconds left, Lueck got the ball and scored to lift CSB to a two-point win over Concordia. She led the Blazers in scoring, and followed up that performance by leading CSB in scoring again in a win over St. Kate's Saturday.
For her late-game heroics and big numbers this past week, Lueck has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week for the third time this season.
Her big week started Wednesday at Moorhead against Concordia. The Cobbers led the entire first half, and the Blazers were down by as many as 15 in the second half before Lueck started to heat up. She scored 20 second-half points, including the game-winning basket with four seconds left. The game was tied at 61, but Lueck drove the lane and scored to lift CSB to a 63-61 win.
ADVERTISEMENT
She finished with 29 points and two rebounds.
Lueck's last-second basket helped the Blazers beat Concordia in Moorhead for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
On Saturday against St. Kate's, Lueck continued her big week with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in a 73-62 win against the Wildcats.
In two games last week, Lueck averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, two assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
With six games left in the regular season, Lueck leads the Blazers in scoring (14.3), rebounding (6.7) and assists (2.6) per game. She is fifth in the MIAC with a .502 field-goal percentage and sixth in the conference in points per game.
Her big games came at a good time for the Blazers, who currently are tied for fifth place with Concordia in the MIAC. St. Benedict is 10-9 overall and 7-5 in the league and sits two games ahead of Augsburg and Hamline, which both have 5-7 conference records. The top six teams in the league make the conference tournament.
The Blazers return home Wednesday, Feb. 4, when they host St. Olaf at 7 p.m. Wednesday is also National Girls and Women in Sport Day. Any girls or women who wear a sport jersey, along with ARISE participants, get in free.
