ST. PAUL, Minn. — The plan was for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team to pick up where they left off following Monday's 54-46 victory over Macalester when they took to the court Wednesday against Hamline.

According to SMU coach Shawn Stimmel, a two-game winning streak — and a 2-2 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record — heading into the break would be a perfect early Christmas present.

Hamline, however, decided to be the Grinch that stole the Cardinals' Christmas plans, as the Pipers scored early — and often — en route to a 90-50 conference win over SMU Wednesday.

"We just did not play very well right from the start," said Stimmel, whose team struggled offensively from the opening tip, managing just five points in the game's opening 10 minutes, and trailed by 25, 47-22, at the half. "It was ustust one of those nights where we couldn't get anything to fall — we didn't shoot well from the field, and we struggled again from the free throw line.

"It just wasn't a good night for us."

Alyse Coates (West St. Paul, Minn.) led the way for SMU, scoring a team-best 12 points, while Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) chipped in 11 and Danielle Dehning (Spring Grove, Minn.) added 10.

"We were hoping to get to the break with a 2-2 record," said Stimmel, whose team fell to 1-3 in the MIAC and 3-4 overall. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to accomplish that.

"One of the worst parts of a game like this is, now we've got nearly a month to think about it. Hopefully it won't sit very well and everyone will come back after the holidays ready to get things back on the right track."