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56		89

Game Summary / GameDay Online

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — After back-to-back nailbiiters — a three-point, 63-60 win against Carleton last Saturday and a four-poiint, 62-58 loss to Augsburg on Wednesday — the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team found themselves in the midst of a blowout on Saturday

Unfortuantely for head coach Mandy Pearson, it was her Cardinals who were on the short end of the 89-56 decision.

Gabriella Gustafson scored a game-high 23 points, leading three Bethel players in double figures, as the Royals raced out to a 14-point first-half lead — then outscored the Cardinals 41-22 in the second half in cruising to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

The Cardinals, who have now dropped two straight and four of their last five — after opening the 2008 portion of their schedule with back-to-back wins — shot 56 percent from the field in the first half, but the Royals took advantage of 14 SMU first-half turnovers in building their 14-point halftime cushion.

And things just went from bad to worse for the Cardinals over the final 20 minutes, as SMU managed just six second-half field goals — including a 1-for-6 effort from behind the 3-point line.

Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) netted a team-best 12 points for the Cardinals, while Stephanie Ayers (Deer River, Minn.) tossed in 11 and just missed her first double-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds. Leading scorer Jess Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) finished with nine points, marking just the fourth time this season the SMU senior has been held under 10 points.

The Cardinals, who fall to 2-8 in the MIAC and 3-10 overall, return to action Sunday, playing host to Concordia in a 1 p.m. conference game at the SMU Gym.