Game Summary

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team met St. Benedict in its MIAC opener on Nov. 26, the defending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Blazers might have taken the Cardinals lightly.

After all, SMU was coming off a middle-of-the-road, sixth-place conference finish a year ago, and the Blazers have dominated the teams' meeting, boasting a 31-6 record.

The Cardinals certainly got the Blazers attention, however, as St. Benedict needed a 7-2 run in the final minutes to escape with a 72-67 victory on SMU's home floor.

The Blazers certainly weren't about to take SMU lightly in the teams' rematch Saturday afternoon — unfortunately for the Cardinals.

St. Benedict broke open a seven-point game with 53 second-half points en route to an 83-60 victory over the Cardinals.

"We just couldn't keep up with them in the second half," said SMU coach Dan Messmann, whose team dropped its season-high fourth straight game to fall to 2-5 in the MIAC and 2-8 overall. "The game was more competitive than the final score might indicate."

In fact, for the game's first 30 minutes, the Cardinals gave the fourth-ranked Blazers all they could handle.

Despite shooting 25 percent from the floor in the first half, SMU hung right with the Blazers, trailing by just seven, 30-23, at halftime. Once the teams took the floor for the second half, however, it was the Blazers who took charge, shooting a blistering 67 percent from the field in the game's final 20 minutes.

"They just wore us down," said Messmann, whose team returns to conference play Monday at Carleton. "They are a very experienced team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. We hung tough for the first half, we just couldn't keep it up in the second half."

Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) was the lone Cardinal in double figures, as the sophomore guard tossed in 14 points. Michelle Barlau led four St. Benedict players in double figures with a game-high 16 points.