Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs winless in four tries.
Gustavus, meanwhile, was 0-3 on the road in its last three MIAC postseason appearance. In fact, the Gusties were looking to become the first No. 5 seed — and the first first-round road team — to win a conference-tournament game.
Something had to give.
And it did — the Cardinals' four-year playoff drought.
Led by Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), the Cardinals got the MIAC playoff monkey off their backs, racing to a 13-point halftime advantage, then hanging on down the stretch to post a 77-67 victory over the Gusties at the SMU Gym.
"The wins don't get much bigger," said SMU coach Dan Messmann, whose team no only won its first MIAC playoff game, but the Cardinals also completed the trifecta against the Gusties — beating Gustavus for the third time this season. "It feels good to finally get that first win. This team has worked so hard all season — one of their main goals was to get that home playoff game, and tonight they gave the home crowd a real treat."
You can say that again.
If the Cardinals were feeling any playoff nervousness, they certainly didn't show it early, as Luehmann drained a 3-pointer to open the scoring — and the Cardinals never looked back.
SMU built its lead to as many as 16 in the first half, thanks in large part to the play of Rattunde, who scored 15 points and added eight rebounds — in the first half alone. Gustavus used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to nine, 29-20, with 4:14 to go in the half, but Rattunde responded with back-to-back baskets to make it a 13-point game, 33-20, before settling for a 39-26 advantage at the half.
"We played a very, very good first half," understated Messmann, noting that the Cardinals shot 57 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes, while the Gusties managed to make just 9 of 29 field-goal attempts (31 percent). "We pretty much knew what to expect (from Gustavus), having already played them twice, but I don't think we were overconfident, either. It's just like we've said all year — go out and do what we do, and do it well. We did that in the first half."
And for most of the second half, too.
The Gusties threatened a couple of times in the second half, cutting SMU's lead to three twice — 49-46 with 11:22 remaining and 52-49 at the 10:40 mark — but each time Gustavus got close, the Cardinals had an answer
"We knew Gustavus wasn't going to roll over and let us walk all over them — we knew they were going to come out and battle (in the second half)," said Messmann. "And we didn't panic when they did make their runs. We were able to stay on an even keel — no high highs, and no low lows. And I think that was the difference."
Rattunde finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season, while Luehmann chipped in 23 points and Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) added 14.
"It's so nice to get that first playoff win, but there isn't a player in that locker room who's satisfied yet," said Messmann, whose team must now travel to Carleton to take on three-time defending conference champion Knights. "Carleton's going to be tough, no question about that. But I think if we play the way we did tonight, we've got a great shot."
