WINONA, Minn. — Somebody better call the exterminator. The turnover bug found its way into SMU Gym on Saturday and bit the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team.
The Cardinals turned the ball over a total of 26 times, including 18 in the first half, and fell to Concordia 80-51 on Saturday afternoon in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.
“We were forcing it inside early on when it wasn't there,” SMU coach
Mandy Pearson said. “We had some good possessions where we had good ball movement, but then we would make a mistake.”
“Our decision making just wasn't very good today.”
Trailing 43-25 coming out of halftime the Cardinals had some momentum, and cut the lead to 43-31, and it looked as if a comeback was beginning to shape up.
The turnover bug struck again however, and Concordia began to pull away.
“We started out the second half playing great defense,” Pearson said. “We were getting stops but weren't getting the shots to fall on the other end. Then we bailed them out a little bit with some fouls, and started turning the ball over again, and they were able to build the lead back up.
Couple the turnovers with a cold day shooting, the Cardinals shot just 39 percent (19 of 49) for the game, and it was too much for SMU to overcome.
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) led the Cardinals with 13 points on five of seven shooting, and
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) chipped in eight points of her own.
Erica Nord led the way for the Cobbers scoring a game-high 17 points. Concordia has already clinched a MIAC playoff berth and improves their conference record to 14-5.
The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday as they travel to St. Olaf for a MIAC matchup. SMU defeated the Oles 62-53 back on Jan. 13, at SMU Gym.
