vs.
66		74

Game Summary / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — Last Saturday, Saint Mary's University's Jess Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) needed just 16 points to become  the eighth player in program history to reach 1,000 points.

She got eight.

Two days later, the Cardinal senior entered SMU's game at Hamline needing just eight points — just half her season average.

She got four.

Wednesday evening, Weisbrod took her third crack at that elusive milestone, and this time, she wasn't to be denied, knocking down a turn-around jumper and then following that up with a driving layup less than four minutes into the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Catherine at the SMU Gym.

Unfortunately, SMU could have used just a few more of Weisbrod's 1,000 career points, as St. Catherine held off the Cardinals down the stretch in handing them their four straight loss, a 74-66 decision.

Neither team managed to grab the upper hand through the game's opening half, as St. Catherine led by as many as seven in the first half, while SMU's biggest advantage was four points. All told, there were six ties and five lead changes through 20 minutes, with the Wildcats clinging to a four-point, 38-34, cushion at the break.

It was more  of the same early in the second half, but then the Cardinals decided to be their own worst enemy, missing on back-to-back field goal attempts, while also turning the ball over twice, as St. Catherine turned a two-point, 38-36 lead into an 11-point, 47-36  cushion.

St. Catherine would lead by twice more — the last time 64-53 wsith 4:32 remaining — before SMU made things interesting, cutting the gap to six on two separate occasions, including 72-66 on a jumper by Brittany DeGrood (Faribault, Minn.) with 22 seconds remaining in regulation.

That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as CSC's Rachel Berglund knocked down two free throws and Weisbrod missed a jump shot in the waning seconds.

Weisbrod finished with a game-high 16 points, while also adding nine rebounds to miss her eighth double-double of the season by one board. A four-year letterwinner, Weisbrod now boasts 1,012 points and joins Mary Schultz (1,982), Tricia Rasmussen (1,880), Jamie Rattunde (1,483), Ashley Luehmann (1,438), Kim Gleason (1,283), Vicki Wilson (1,256) and Amy Burns (1,062) in SMU's 1,000-point club.

Alyse Coates (West St. Paul, Minn.) recorded her first double-double of the season and second of her three-year career, scoring 10 points and equaling her career high with 12 rebounds. DeGrood also had a career night, netting 11  points of 4 of 6 shooting, including a 1-for-3 effort from behind the 3-point line and a perfect 2-for-2 showing from the free-throw line.

The Cardinals, who fall to 3-16 in the MIAC and 4-18 overall, close out their home schedule on Saturday, playing host to Bethel in the final career home game for SMU seniors Weisbrod and Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.).