Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — All season long, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team has leaned on senior Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) to shoulder the burden of carrying the Cardinals' offense.

Saturday afternoon in her final game as a Cardinal, Luehmann was again called upon to hoist her teammates on her shoulders — not once, but twice.

With the Cardinals trailing by three with three seconds remaining in regulation, Luehmann was fouled attempting a 3-pointer, putting the Cardinal senior on the line to shoot three free throws.

And she made it look as easy as 1-2-3, knocking down all three to send the game into overtime tied at 51-51.

In the game's extra five minutes, however, Luehmann had no more tricks up her sleeve, as St. Olaf scored the first six points in overtime in handing the Cardinals a 57-53 setback at the SMU Gym.

"We've asked Ashley to do so much for us this season, it seemed kind of ironic that she would be at the free throw line with the game on the line — in her final game at Saint Mary's," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "And to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Ashley has been a great leader for us all season, and she was again today."

Luehmann, who closed out her career as SMU's all-time leader in 3-pointers (207) and 3-pointers attempted (551) — and ranks No. 4 all-time in points (1,438) — scored a game-high 17 points against the Oles, while teammate Sarah Murphy (Belle Plaine, Minn.) chipped in 13 and Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) added 10.

"It's a frustrating way for the season to end," said Messmann, whose team closed out the year with a 6-14 record in conference and a 10-15 overall mark — the seventh straight time that SMU has finished with 10 or more wins in a season. "Obviously from a won-lost standpoint, the season was a little down from the last couple of years, but I think we've done a good job of aligning ourselves to get back to that top level in the future."

And Luehmann and fellow senior Alissa Banttari (Forest Lake, Minn.) are two big reasons why.

"Our seniors have been great leaders and role models," said Messmann. "There's no question we are going to miss them."

The Cardinals certainly would have missed Luehmann's presence on Saturday, as she scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half, helping SMU rally from a five-point, 46-41, deficit with 3:43 remaining.

"Despite the final score, we did a whole lot of good things out there today. Our problem was, we were our own worst enemy," said Messmann, noting that the Cardinals shot just 38 percent from the field — including a 1-for-8 performance in OT — and turned the ball over 22 times. "We had our chances, we just couldn't knock down the shots.

"That's been our Achilles' heel all year, so I guess it's no surprise it happened again today."