Game Summary vs. Augsburg / GameDay Online

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — On Saturday, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team dodged a couple late-game bullets when St. Olaf missed a pair of field goal attempts in the game's final seconds, as the Cardinals hung on for a 65-62 win — and their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

Monday evening, the Cardinals found themselves in a similar situation, tied 66-66 with less than five seconds remaining in regulation and host Augsburg in possession of the ball.

This time around, however, SMU dodged, but the bullet still found its mark, as the Auggies' Serenae Levine scored, was fouled, and completed the three-point play with 3.8 seconds remaining in leading Augsburg to its first conference win of the season, 69-66.

The Cardinals raced out to an early, 6-2 advantage, but that was as big as SMU's — or Augsburg's — cushion would get in a tightly contested first half. Neither team led by more than four through the opening 20 minutes, with Augsburg taking a 34-30 lead into the locker room at the break.

And it was more of the same in the second half.

The Auggies padded their halftime lead to seven, 39-32, but SMU would answer, tying the game at 43-43 on a 3-pointer by Emily DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn.) with 14:00 remaining. The Cardinals would proceed to push their lead to five, 48-43, while also holding a five-point, 56-51 advantage on a pair of free throws by Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) with 9:16 on the clock.

Over those final nine minutes, the game would by tied four times, the last time 66-66, setting up Levine's late-game heroics.

Jesa Hall (Glenwood City, Wis.) scored a team- and career-high 21 points to pace the Cardinals (1-10 MIAC, 1-13 overall), who shot 49 percent (23-for-47) from the field, including a 9 of 16 effort from behind the 3-point line. Kulig chipped in 16 points for SMU, while Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) added 10.

Shannon Renine netted a game-high 25 points, while Christa Suedbeck tallied a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Auggies (1-10 MIAC, 3-11 overall).

The Cardinals are back in action Wednesday, returning home to play host to Macalester in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC contest at the SMU Gym.