Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Sunday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia, Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Dan Messmann was in a bit of a quandary — he wasn't quite sure how his team would respond following Saturday's disappointing 57-42 loss to league-leading Carleton.
After all, his team hadn't had to come back from a loss yet this season.
If Sunday's performance against the Cobbers is any indication, Messmann still isn't sure what to expect from his team after a loss.
On one hand, the Cardinals put together a better overall performance — shooting a much-more-respectable 37 percent from the field, while adding a 22-for-25 effort from the free throw line.
On the other hand, however, despite the improved performance, the Cardinals still came out on the short end of a 77-76 overtime decision at the SMU Gym.
"It's a tough loss, especially considering I thought we played much better than we did (against Carleton)," said Messmann, whose team has now lost two straight to the Cobbers, including a 73-65 decision in last year's MIAC Tournament. "It's the same old story — we are still making mistakes that we shouldn't be making, too many defensive lapses that are leading to big runs by our opponents."
Those defensive lapses certainly were SMU's Achilles heel against the Cobbers, as SMU let an eight-point first half lead disappear, as Concordia used took advantage of four Cardinal turnovers as part of an 11-0 run en route to a 34-29 halftime advantage.
It was more of the same in the second half, as the Cardinals turned that five-point hafltime deficit into an eight-point, 44-36 lead with 14 minutes remaining in regulation. SMU built the lead as big as nine, 60-51, but against Concordia battled back, tying the game, 67-67 with 12 seconds on the clock. SMU hand one final chance, but Ashley Luehmann's (Lewiston, Minn.) shot bounced off the rim.
The Cardinals struggled in the OT, turning the ball over three times in the first three minutes. Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) completed a three-point play to give SMU a 76-74 edge with a minute left, but the Cobbers' Anne Keeley nailed a 3-pointer of her own to give Concordia a 77-76 edge with 30 seconds left. The Cardinals had two chances in those final 30 seconds, but both SMU field goal attempts were blocked, giving the Cobbers their second straight conference win.
"It's tough to head into (the Christmas) break with back-to-back losses, but we really need the break," said Messmann, who got 20 points from Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), 14 from both Rattunde and Megan Moran (Burlington, Wis.), and 13 from Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) in the loss. "I was pleased with our effort and our overall performance (against Concordia), but it's disappointing that we weren't able to come away with a win for our efforts."
