Game Summary

ST. PETER, Minn. — With four-point and five-point losses in their first two meetings, Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Kim Fierke had no reason to expect anything less when her Cardinals square off against Gustavus in the opening round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament Monday evening.

"It should be a real battle," Fierke predicted.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their third meeting with the Gusties was anything but World War III.

Fueled by a 12-2 run to start the game, Gustavus raced out to a 44-29 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 78-57 victory.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Cardinals, who were 10-4 in the MIAC and 11-5 overall when they dropped a 59-54 decision to the Gusties in the teams' second meeting. Since then, SMU dropped five of its last seven to finish the season at 13-13 overall.

Trailing by 15 at the half, SMU whittled away at the Gusties' lead early in the second half, getting as close as eight, 48-40, with 14 minutes remaining. Gustavus countered with a 10-4 run to push the lead to 14 at the 7:38 mark, and the Cardinals never threatened again.

Stacy Hammel (Manitowoc, Wis.) scored a team-high 12 points and Melanie Olson (Bird Island, Minn.) added 10 in the losing effort for SMU. Angie Peterson scored a game-high 22 points for Gustavus, while Kelly Etzel added 15 and Allison Lindstrom tallied 12.