Game Summary vs. Hamline / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Mandy Pearson had seen it before: A run late in the first or early in the second that the Cardinals didn't have an answer for —  a run that would turn a close game into a lopsided affair.

Wednesday evening, it wasn't a late or early run that did in the Cardinals — it was a Hamline run that encompassed nearly the entire opening 20 minutes.

The Cardinals knocked down two of their first three field goal attempts in taking a 5-4 lead with 18:13 on the clock. When Jesa Hall (Glenwood City, Wis.) drained a jumper from the top of the key to account for SMU's third bucket of the first half, 14 minutes had elapsed, and that 5-4 lead had turned into a 25-5 deficit.

And that was one hole the Cardinals could not dig out of, as Hamline handed SMU a 74-43 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.

“It was just one of those nights where we couldn't seem to get our shots to drop,” said Pearson, whose team fell to 3-16 in the MIAC and 3-19 overall with the loss. “In the second half, we got a group out there who did the things we wanted them to do and made a nice run — it was just too little, too late.

“Give this team credit, they battled from start to finish — the played hard all the way to the end and never gave up,” Pearson added. “We just need to find a way to come out ready to play right from the start.”

The second half didn't open any better for SMU, as Hamline scored the first 12 points to push its lead to 44-17. Hall would drain four 3-pointers over the next six minutes to pull the Cardinals to within 18, 49-31, but that was as close as SMU would get in falling for the sixth straight time.

Hall finished with a team-leading 16 points for the Cardinals, while Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) chipped in nine. SMU shot 27 percent from the field, hitting 14 of 52 field goal attempts, while making just 8 of 24 3-pointers.

Gabriella Gustafson and Jessica Heinen each finished with a game-high 17 points for the Pipers, while Mary Wilkowski added 15. The win was the second straight and the 10th in their last 13 games for the Pipers, who improved to 12-7 in the MIAC and 15-7 overall.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, traveling to St. Olaf for a 1 p.m. conference contest against the Oles.