MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — It was a scene Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Shawn Stimmel had seen far too many times this season: One point up at halftime, only to score 18 points in the second half.
In fact, a sub 20-point half has been all too commonplace for the Cardinals — who had been held under the 20-point mark for a half 10 times heading into Saturday's game against Augsburg.
This time around, however, Stimmel got to enjoy the few from the other side of that scenario, as SMU held the Auggies to 18 points in the second half, rallying from a 27-26 halftime deficit to beat Augsburg 58-45.
"It's nice to see us put together two straight solid performances," said Stimmel, whose team is enjoying a two-game winning streak — thanks to Wednesday's 57-51 upset win over Carleton and Saturday's victory over the Auggies. "We talked a little before the St. Catherine game (on Monday), and we decided that our goal was to finish above .500 in our last five games.
"Today's win puts us at 2-1, so we're well on our way."
Thanks in large part to the inside-outside tag team of
Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.) and
Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.).
Tanke drained 4 of 10 3-point attempts en route to her game-high 17 points, while Weisbrod was a force inside, scoring 13 points and adding 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.
After a see-saw first half in which neither team led by more than six, the Cardinals used a pair of second-half runs — a 12-2 run to take a 44-34 lead with 11:57 left and a 12-3 run in the game's final eight minutes — to ice the victory.
"Jess and Kelly played very well, but this win was a total team effort," said Stimmel, whose team has now won two straight for the first time this season. "We struggled a little bit in the first half, but hung right with them, and then turned our game up a notch in the second half.
"Our goal is to continue to play the game the way we are capable of playing over the last week of the season," Stimmel added. "If we can do that, we not close out the season on a high note, but it also gives us some momentum as we head into the off-season and into next year."
