Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team had an answer for every shot Hamline took in the first half of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the SMU Gym.

If the Pipers hit a 3-pointer, the Cardinals did, too.

If Hamline knocked down a pull-up jumper, so did Saint Mary's.

The result, a 27-27 halftime deadlock.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there were no answers down the stretch in the second half, as Ashley Luehmann's (Lewiston, Minn.) game-tying jumper with seven seconds remaining bounced off the rim and into the arms of Hamline's Laurisa Ewert, preserving the Pipers' 53-49 victory.

SMU, which held leads as big as nine (14-5), and trailed by as many as five (twice) in the first half, tied the game at 40-40, before Hamline used an 8-3 to take its biggest lead of the game, 48-43, with 1:58 remaining in regulation.

The Cardinals got to within one, 50-49 with 18 seconds left on a driving layup by Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.), who was fouled on the play, but couldn't convert the game-tying free throw. Jessica Heinen hit the first of two free throws to push the Hamline lead to two, 51-49, but Luehmann couldn't get her shot to fall from just inside the 3-point line, as SMU dropped its third straight game.

Weisbrod finished with a game-high 15 points, while Luehmann and Calla Swenson (Blooming Prairie, Minn.) each chipped in 10 points. Kelly Lines led four Piper players in double figures with 14 points, while Ewert added 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.