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Saint Mary's Cardinals   2-10 MIAC / 2-13 Overall		Bethel Royals   6-6 MIAC / 7-8 Overall

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Last Action: The Cardinals got a game-high 17 points from Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) and overcame a slow shooting night early on to beat Macalester 59-50 at the SMU Gym Wednesday. … Bethel, meanwhile, could not hold on to a 16-point lead in falling to Saint Benedict 75-62 Wednesday in Arden Hills, Minn.

Last Meeting: The Royals raced out to a 39-23 halftime advantage and never looked back in handing SMU its fourth straight loss, 77-60, on Dec. 6 in Arden Hills, Minn.

A Year Ago: The Royals picked up a pair of wins vs. the Cardinals in their conference meetings a year ago. 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 an 89-56 MIAC win on Jan. 19. Jess Weisbrod tossed in a team-high 21 points and added 10 assists for her eighth double-double of the season, but it was not enough, as Bethel completed the conference sweep of SMU with a 75-68 win at the SMU Gym on Feb. 16.

Cardinal Notes: After losing their first 12 games, the Cardinals have won two of their last three. … Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) scored a team-leading 17 points vs. the Scots on Wednesday. The SMU sophomore was the only SMU player to score more than 10 points. … Kulig has now scored 10 or more points in six of the team's last seven games. … Jesa Hall (Glenwood City, Wis.) scored a team- and career-best 21 points in SMU's 69-66 loss at Augsburg Monday. Hall's previous career high was 15 points, a total she equaled three times this season. … Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.), who recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. Hamline on Jan. 7, chipped in 10 points vs. the Auggies on Monday, but was held to just nine points vs. the Scots. …  Kulig and Miller come into tonight's game leading the team in scoring, boasting 11.7 and 10.6 ppg averages, respectively. … Michelle Carne's (Escanaba, Mich.) team-high eight points vs. St. Thomas on Dec. 10 was the first time since Alysse Coates and Jess Weisbrod scored eight points vs. Carleton vs. Carleton on Feb. 9, 2008 — and just the sixth time in their last 89 games — that SMU failed to have a double-figure scorer. … The Cardinals' 31-25 halftime lead vs. Macalester was just the third time in SMU's 15 games that the Cardinals have led at halftime. SMU is 1-2 when leading at the break. …  The Cardinals' loss at Augsburg Monday dropped SMU to 0-9 on the road this season. SMU is now 1-20 in their last 21 road games, with their lone road win a 57-54 victory over St. Olaf on Jan. 5, 2008. … The Cardinals held Macalester to a season-low 50 points Wednesday. It was the first time all season SMU has held its opponent to under 60 points. … SMU's 66 points vs. Augsburg Monday were a season high, eclipsing the 65 points the Cardinals scored vs. St. Olaf two days earlier, and was just the third time this season the Cardinals have scored 60 or more points. … The Cardinals also set season highs in field goals made (23), field goal percentage (49 percent, 23-for-47), 3-pointers (9), 3-point percentage (56 percent, 9-for-16) vs. the Auggies.

Royal Notes: Bethel's loss to Saint Benedict snapped the Royals' two-game winning streak. The Royals come into today's game having won four of their last six games. … Saint Benedict's 75 points Wednesday were the most allowed by Bethel this season. The Royals have allowed 70 or more points just three times in their first 15 games, with Saint Benedict accounting for two of those three — the Blazers scored 73 in a 73-36 win over the Royals on Dec. 3, then netted 75 in Wednesday's 75-62 win. … On the flip side, the Royals have netted 70 or more points in five of their seven wins, including a season-best 77 points in wins vs. UM-Morris (77-68) and Saint Mary's (77-60). … Annegret Nautsch is the leading shot blocker in the nation with 71 and is the MIAC record holder for blocks. As a school, Bethel leads the nation in blocked shots per game (115, 7.66 bpg). … Nautsch comes into today's game as the only Royal averaging in double figures at 12.0 ppg. … Taylor Sheley is averaging 14.2 points per game in her last five games. … Kristen Wolters tied a career high with 18 points in Bethel's loss to Saint Benedict. … Bethel's 59-52 win over Carleton Monday was its first vs. the Knights since 1997 — a span of 21 games. …