WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach
Mandy Pearson had a very simple game plan Sunday against St. Thomas: Keep the Tommies from getting on any extended runs.
The Cardinals worked that plan to perfection — for the game's opening 15 minutes.
In the final five minutes of the opening half, the Tommies scored nine unanswered points — breaking free from a 23-23 deadlock en route to an 11-point, 37-26 halftime advantage.
And the Cardinals never recovered, as UST — bolstered by a 26-13 run to open the second half — built their lead as big as 24 points before holding off a late SMU charge to post a 68-58 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at the SMU Gym.
“I thought we did some good things out there today,” said Pearson, whose team enters the Christmas break with a 1-3 mark in conference play, while falling to 2-5 overall. “We knew we had to keep (St. Thomas) from getting on any big runs, and aside from that one run late in the first half and one early in the second, we did that.”
Unfortunately, those two runs proved to be the Cardinals' downfall.
Renee Pecarina (Winona, Minn.) tossed in a career-best 17 points — hitting 4 of 5 3-point attempts — to lead the way for the Cardinals, who shot 32 percent from the field.
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) chipped in 13 points and
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) added 11 for SMU.
Becky Theisen netted 15 points to lead a trio of Tommie double-figure scorers, with Rachel Booth and Jordyn Sears adding 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals are now off until Jan. 2, when they travel to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference contest against Saint Benedict.
