St. Benedict is left to watch

For much of the regular season, St. Benedict was the best women's basketball team in the MIAC.

The Blazers won 17 of 18 games between Dec. 15 and Feb. 20 as they worked toward the MIAC co-championship, shared with St. Thomas.

But the Blazers' season came to a sudden end last Wednesday with a loss to Carleton, which finished fourth during the regular season, in the semifinals of the MIAC playoffs.

That loss and Carleton's upset victory over St. Thomas in the championship game are two reasons the Blazers (20-6) did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Carleton, which earned the conference's automatic bid, St. Thomas and Gustavus Adolphus, which finished third during the regular season, received bids.

The selection of Gustavus could be considered a surprise. Gustavus had two fewer victories than the Blazers, and the teams split their two meetings and each had a 3-4 record against the top four teams in the conference. But the Gusties had an advantage over the Blazers in strength of schedule.

"It is disappointing," said St. Benedict coach Mike Durbin, "especially when it comes to such an abrupt halt. We knew our chances were slim on Sunday because we had lost our last regular-season game and then lost in the semifinals. We have to keep our eyes on the big picture. We had a good season and the MIAC got three teams, which is good for the conference."

The Auggies will be vying for a top-four finish at the meet for the 20th consecutive year.

Seth Flodeen, the runnerup at 125 pounds last year, and Robbie Gotreau, who was fifth at 174 last year, lead the Auggies' entrants.

Two former Gophers -- 133-pounder Travis Lang and 149-pounder Willy Holst -- are also among the Augsburg contingent.

Etc. • The Hamline men's hockey team is tied for No. 12 in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll. It is the first time the Pipers have been ranked in the poll. The Pipers will play St. Thomas in the MIAC championship game tonight at Drake Arena.

• St. Cloud State guard David Dreas scored 15 points in the Huskies' 83-74 loss at South Dakota last Saturday to become the second-leading scorer in program history. Dreas, a senior from Winona, Minn., passed Forrest Witt (1,774) and now has 1,788 career points. Dan Hagen is the program's leading scorer with 2,136 points. Dreas also became the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals (248).