Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Dan Messmann might want to consider setting up a meeting with the scheduling gods and ask them one simple question: What did he do to deserve a stretch like this?

For the third time in the last seven days, Messmann's Cardinals squared off against a nationally ranked team Saturday afternoon.

And, unfortunately for SMU, for the third straight time, the Cardinals came out on the short end of a rather lopsided affair as 15th-ranked Gustavus pushed its unbeaten record to a school-record 11-0 with a 74-50 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at the SMU Gym.

The Cardinals, who snapped a two-game losing streak that included losses to Top 10 teams St. Benedict (79-57) and Carleton (78-37) with a 73-43 triumph over Macalester last Wednesday, started slow and never got their offense on track against the high-powered Gusties.

The Gusties put the game out of reach early, scoring the game's first seven points and 15 of the first 17 — and they never looked back, racing out to a 43-19 halftime advantage.

GAC shot a blistering 63 percent from the field during their 43-point first-half outburst, and missed just one of their four 3-point attempts. SMU, meanwhile, sank just eight field goals over the game's opening 20 minutes, and were just 1-for-8 from beyond the 3-point line.

Kelly Etzel led four Gustavus players in double figures, netting a game-high 20 points. Lacy Skoog chipped in 14 points, while Angie Peterson added 12 and Jennifer Klohs tallied 10.

Jamie Rattunde (Rollingtone, Minn.) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) accounted for 32 of SMU's 54 points — with Rattunde scoring 17 and Luehmann adding 15 — as the Cardinals dropped to 3-6 in the MIAC and 3-9 overall.