Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — At least David only had to slay one Goliath.
The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team found themselves in the middle of their second of three straight battles with MIAC heavyweights Saturday afternoon at the SMU Gym.
After dispensing of St. Thomas — and its 38-game winning streak over the Cardinals — with a 71-49 win on Dec. 10, the Cardinals turned their attention to league-leading St. Benedict on Saturday.
Only this time, the Cardinals' slingshot ran out of ammunition at the worst possible moment, as St. Benedict grabbed its first lead of the game at 64-61 with 1:08 remaining in regulation, then sealed the 69-64 win with five straight free throws down the stretch as the Blazers put an end to SMU's five-game winning streak.
"It's pretty hard to feel disappointed about the way we played when we led for 38 of the game's 40 minutes," said SMU coach Dan Messmann, whose team had not lost since opening the season with back-to-back losses to Whitworth and Puget Sound to open the season. "We talked before the game and I told the team that I wasn't worried about the final score, but rather that we went out there and competed for 40 minutes — and we did that."
SMU held leads as bit as 10 in the first half, but a late 17-11 CSB run cut the Cardinals' lead to 35-31 at the half.
It was more of the same in the second half, as the Cardinals held a led by as many as 11, 51-40, only to have the Blazers battled back, taking the lead for good, 64-61, on a 3-pointer by Anna Heikenen. Trailing by three with just over a minute remaining, SMU was forced to foul, and the Blazers were near-perfect from the line, hitting four of their final five to ice the win."
"Their ability to make their free throws — especially down the stretch — killed us," said Messmann, noting that St. Ben's converted on 23 of 31 free throws — including 15 of 20 in the second half — compared to SMU's 5-for-11 performance from the line. "That was the difference, they got to the line, and when they were there, they made their shots count.
"It's tough lose, but I'm very happy wtih the way we played," added Messmann, who had four players score in double figures, led by Jamie Rattunde's (Rollingstone, Minn.) 17 points. "Would I have liked to have come away with a win? Of course. We just didn't have enough down the stretch to hold (St. Ben's) off,
"(St. Ben's) is a very good team, and we took them to the limit – I'm pleased with that."
But, the first-year coach quickly added, a heartbreaking loss like this the second time the Cardinals face the Blazers won't be all that pleasing.
"We proved today that we are every bit as good as they are," said Messmann, whose team jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they play host to Carleton — last year's MIAC playoff champion and NCAA qualifier. "Now our job is to continue to improve, so that the next time we face them, we can get the job done."
