Game Summary vs. GAC / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — It started as a small snowball — an 8-0 Gustavus run over the final five minutes of the first half that gave the Gusties a 29-28 halftime advantage over the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team.

It ended as an avalanche.

The Gusties followed up that 8-0, half-ending run with an 18-2 burst to open the second half, as Gustavus put an end to the Cardinals' two-game winning streak in convincing fashion, leaving the SMU Gym with a 65-48 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

The Cardinals had opened the second half of their conference schedule with back-to-back wins over Macalester and Bethel — the latter a 73-69, double-overtime thriller on Saturday.

But there would be no three-peat Wednesday, as Gustauvs forced SMU into a season-high 21 turnovers and held them to just 35 percent shooting (17-for-48).

The Cardinals hung right with Gustavus for the game's first 15 minutes, taking a 22-20 advantage on a Jesa Hall (Glenwood City, Wis.) 3-pointer with five minutes remaining.

From there, however, the snowball started — and never stopped.

GAC capped its 18-2 second-half run with four straight 3-point plays — 3-pointers by Emily Nelson, Brianna Radtke and Molly Geske, and a 3-point play by Julia Schultz — and never looked back.

Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, scoring nine points. It was just the seventh time in the team's last 91 games that SMU failed to have a double-figure scorer. Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) added seven points in the losing effort for SMU.

Nelson tossed in a game-high 13 points for GAC, while Schultz and Radtke also scored in double figures, netting 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Cardinals, who fall to 3-11 in the MIAC and 3-14 overall, return to conference play on Saturday, traveling to Saint Benedict for a 3 p.m. contest.