Junior guard Annika Southworth fired in her 1,000th career point Tuesday night as No. 9-ranked St. Peter defeated Mankato West 67-31 in a nonconference girls basketball game at the West gym.
Southworth nailed a right baseline 3-pointer in the Saints’ 11-0 run to start the contest before a 24-footer from just left of the top-of-the-key with 1:26 left in the half set off a celebration of her accomplishment. West (5-8) received a driving bucket from sophomore guard Livi Downs to end the half, closing the deficit to 27-16. Downs led the Scarlets with 12 points while junior guard Ella Mullenbach chipped in 11.
“This means a lot and it’s kind of special to my teammates because they got me here,” Southworth said. “This team is very special since we’ve really created a bond over the years. It’s fun playing with a team that you have close relationships with. I think our defensive ability and our ability to play together is the biggest thing to our success.
“We have a lot of scorers on offense and we’re very balanced with 3-point shooters, people who can drive and pass along with people who can score in the paint, so we’re three dimensional on offense and that’s important to us. I like to shoot threes so that it came on a three is pretty cool. … It felt cool to see my sister (Kylie) screaming and then all of my teammates on the court.”
St. Peter (10-1) used an aggressive defense to limit the Scarlets to 31 points while showing off its offensive versatility in the second half to force running time with six minutes to go. Senior forward Abby Maloney worked the interior for 15 points and six rebounds. Minnesota State commit Rhyan Holmgren scored 12 points and collected four assists. Annika Southworth ended up with 14 points and Kylie Southworth dropped through a trio of 3-pointers.
“We knew what we had to do coming in which was move the ball and play our game,” Maloney said. “We needed to find the openings and take the right shots while being smart with the ball. We’ve been high all year and our chemistry has been good. I love how close we are off the court. I think that makes us play better ball on the court and builds a strong team aspect. … We have good players with a wide variety of skills.”
After Maloney’s three-point play produced a 35-18 lead three minutes into the second half, three straight threes — two from Kylie Southworth and another from Annika Southworth — expanded the margin to 51-20. Junior guard Nora Whipps then drained a pair of 3-pointers and the rout was on.
“We played really good defense and that’s where we start,” St. Peter coach Bob Southworth said. “Offensively, I felt we weren’t moving the ball as well and were trying to put it on the floor right away. We weren’t seeing the cutters when they were open and West was playing good defense so you were only open for a second of two.
“Our eyes were down but in the second we did better and had a lot more assists. The key all year has been our defense and holding teams to around 40 to 45 points per game. We’re not scoring a ton so in tight games we’re hoping our defense will carry us through.”
Both teams are in action Friday, with West playing at Mankato East and the Saints traveling to Marshall.