Game Summary
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — There's a reason Carleton is currently ranked No. 11 in the latest d3hoops.com national poll, and the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team learned that reason firsthand Monday evening.
The Knights are good — very good.
Carleton scored the game's opening basket, and 16 of the game's first 18 points, and never looked back as the Knights cruised to a school record-tying 10th straight win with a 78-37 triumph over the Cardinals in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.
"I knew going in that they were going to be a very good team, but they were even better than I expected," admitted SMU coach Dan Messmann, whose team dropped its fifth straight. "They are certainly deserving of their No. 11 ranking."
SMU struggled from the field all night, shooting just 22 percent from the floor (11-for-48). The Cardinals' top three scorers — Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn. / 16.0 ppg average), Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 11.5 ppg) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn. / 11.5 ppg) — managed just 11 points combined.
"(Carleton) came at us with a half-court press that caused us some problems and never really let us get into the flow of our offense," Messmann said. "We struggled offensively the whole game — we were just never able to get into any sort of rhythm. And when we did get good looks, we weren't able to knock them down."
The Knights certainly didn't have any trouble knocking down shots, as they shot 50 percent from the field (28-for-56) — and scored more points in the second half (42) than the Cardinals did the entire game.
"It was one of those nights when we couldn't seem to do anything right," said Messmann, whose team returns to action Wednesday night, when the Cardinals play host to Macalester in their first home game since Dec. 7. "We need to put this game behind us and focus on Macalester. There's nothing we can do (about the Carleton loss). As disappointing as our performance was, we've got to forget about it and move on.
"One game isn't going to make our season."
