Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Sometimes, you need one or two players to step up and take control — like Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) did in the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team's 60-53 win over Augsburg last Wednesday.

Other times, it's more of a group effort — like the Cardinals' 70-64 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over St. Catherine on Saturday.

Sure, Rattunde netted a game-high 19 points, and Luehmann pulled down 10 rebounds, but this four-point win — the Cardinals' second straight and third in their last four games — wasn't a two-woman show.

SMU finished with four players in double figures, including Megan Moran (Burlington, Wis.) — who recorded her second career double-double with 10 points and a game-high h11 rebounds — as the Cardinals improved to 7-3 in the MIAC and 7-5 overall.

"We've talked since the beginning of the year that we can't rely on one or two people to carry the load for us," said SMU coach Dan Messmann, who also got 14 points from Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) and 13 from Beth Walch (Altura, Minn.) in the victory. "Last Wednesday, we relied way too much on Rat and Ashley (who accounted for 45 of SMU's 60 points in the 60-53 win). Today, we spread it out more, we had some people step up when we needed them to, and that was great to see.

The Cardinals controlled the game early, building leads as big as 11 points, before settling for a five-point, 37-32 halftime advantage. The Cardinals maintained a five- to eight-point cushion through most of the second half, but the Wildcats kept whittling away, eventually pulling even at 58-58 on a Sarah Schneider basket. A pair of free throws by Rattunde gave SMU the lead for good, 61-59, and the Cardinals outscored St. Catherine 9-5 over the game's final 4:15 to secure the win.

"St. Catherine is a good team, and they played very, very well," said Messmann. "But I thought we did a much better job of playing the way we are capable — for the entire game.

When Jamie picked up her fourth foul early in the second half, it was almost like the entire gym just took a deep breath and thought, 'Oh, no, they're done,' " continued Messmann. "But we fought through it — people came off the bench and picked up the slack — and w were able to pull out the win."