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Saint Mary's Cardinals   3-11 MIAC / 3-14 Overall		Saint Benedict Blazers   12-2 MIAC / 14-3 Overall

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Last Action: The Cardinals saw their two-game winning streak come to a screeching halt as Gustavus used a 26-2 run to end the first half and start the second to pull away from SMU en route to a 65-48 MIAC win on Wednesday at the SMU Gym. … Saint Benedict, meanwhile, won its fourth straight, erupting for 81 points in an 81-70 victory over St. Catherine Wednesday in St. Joseph, Minn.

Last Meeting: The Blazers used a 14-0 run to start the second half in handing SMU a 74-55 setback at the SMU Gym on Jan. 3.

A Year Ago: Saint Benedict escaped with a pair of nailbiting victories over SMU a year ago. The Blazers survived a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double from SMU's Jessica Weisbrod to beat the Cardinals 73-61 in their first meeting St. Joseph, Minn., on Dec. 1, 2007, then completed the sweep on Jan. 26, 2008, as Saint Benedict's Ariel Tauer nailed a wide-open jumper with less than a second on the clock to lift the Blazers to a 68-66 victory at the SMU Gym.

Cardinal Notes: : The Cardinals' loss vs. Gustavus Wednesday snapped SMU's season-high two-game winning streak. … After losing their first 12 games, the Cardinals have won three of their last five. … Last Saturday's game vs. Bethel was the Cardinals' first overtime game since a 66-60 OT loss to St. Olaf on Jan. 31, 2007. The last time SMU won an overtime game was a 75-73 OT win over — ironically — Bethel on Jan. 2, 2006. …  Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) — who entered Wednesday's game averaging a team-best 11.4 ppg — was held to a team-high nine points by the Gusties. Miller's nine-point night marked the second time this season — and just the seventh time in the team's last 91 games — in which SMU failed to have at least one player score 10 or more points. … Miller scored a career-high 23 points in leading the Cardinals to their double-OT win over Bethel last Saturday. … Jesa Hall (Glenwood City, Wis.) scored a team- and career-best 21 points in SMU's 69-66 loss at Augsburg on Jan. 19. Hall's previous career high was 15 points, a total she has now equaled four times this season. … The Cardinals' 26-18  halftime lead vs. Bethel last Saturday was just the fourth time in SMU's 17 games that the Cardinals have led at halftime. SMU is 2-2 when leading at the break. …  The Cardinals' loss at Augsburg on Jan. 19 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. … SMU's 73 points vs. Bethel last Saturday were a season high, and the most scored by the Cardinals since netting 73 in a 73-59 win over Augsburg on Jan. 13, 2007. It was also just the fourth time this season the Cardinals have scored 60 or more points. … On the flip side, SMU was held to 48 points vs. Gustavus, marking the fifth time this season the Cardinals have failed to score 50 or more points.

Blazer Notes: The Blazers have won the last seven meetings vs. the Cardinals. SMU's last win vs. CSB was a 61-54 triumph on Feb. 7, 2005. … Saint Benedict comes into today's game boasting a perfect 8-0 record on its home floor and are 100-10 at home in their last nine seasons. … Ariel Tauer scored a game-high 19 points in CSB's win over St. Catherine Wednesday. She also recorded six rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals. … Tauer was the seventh CSB player to lead the team in scoring this season. …  Amy Stifter and Mindy Schmidt enter today's game leading the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 and 11.5 ppg, respectively. … The Blazers' 81-point effort vs. St. Catherine was just one point shy of the team's season high 82 points, scored vs. Crown on Nov. 15. On the flip side, the Wildcats' 70 points were the second-most allowed by CSB this season — second only to the 81 points scored by Texas Tyler on Nov. 21. … Two of CSB's three losses came during back-to-back losses to St. Thomas and Hamline on Jan. 14 and Jan. 17. … CSB's 66-61 win over Macalester on Dec. 10 was the 500th career coaching victory for Blazer head coach Mike Durbin, who improved to 500-135 in his 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including the last 23 at Saint Benedict. Durbin is the 13th coach in NCAA Division III women's basketball history to reach 500 wins and is the winningest women's college basketball coach in Minnesota. …