Game Summary

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Qualifying for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs has become old hat for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, so has early exits.

For the fourth straight season, SMU earned one of the six spots in the conference playoffs, posting a 16-6 MIAC mark and a fifth-place finish.

And for the fourth straight season, SMU was eliminated in the opening round, as Concordia got 11 points and 22 rebounds from Debbie Slack and had four players in double figures en route to a 73-65 playoff-opening win over the Cardinals Monday evening.

The Cardinals, who split their MIAC series vs. Concordia — falling 80-57 on Jan. 19 in Moorhead, Minn., then beating the Cobbers 71-58 on Feb. 15 — led by as many as six, 26-20, with 4:30 remaining in the first half, but a 9-2 run to end the half game Concordia a one-point, 29-28, halftime advantage.

Concordia scored 17 of the first 28 points of the second half to take a 46-39 lead with 11:59 remaining in regulation. A 3-pointer by Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) capped a 10-2 SMU run as the Cardinals regained the lead, 49-48 at the 10:05 mark. That, however, was the last time SMU would lead, as Concordia eliminated SMU with a game-ending 25-16 run.

Luehmann netted a game-high 18 points for SMU, which had its four-game winning streak snapped with the loss. The Cardinals, who finished with a 17-9 overall record — the most wins by an SMU women's basketball team since the Cardinals went 21-3 and placed third in the NCAA regional tournament in 1985-86 — also got 14 points from Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) and 12 from Beth Walch (Altura, Minn.).

Along with Slack's double-double, Concordia (20-6) — which advances to face regular-season champion and No. 1 seed St. Benedict on Wednesday — got 17 points from Jamie Visness, 14 from Karie Visness and 12 from Mandy Pearson.