ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, coming off a 67-57 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss at home against St. Catherine Saturday at the SMU Gym, takes to the road Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to Hamline for a 7:30 p.m. conference contest against the Pipers in St. Paul, Minn.
The Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-14 MIAC / 5-16 Overall)
Hamline Pipers (9-9 MIAC / 11-10 Overall)
Last Action: SMU managed just four field goals and 15 points over the game's final 13 minutes Saturday, as the Wildcats used a 14-8 run to tie the game at 50-50, then outscored the Cardinals 17-7 over the game's seven minutes in handing SMU a
67-57 conference setback at the SMU Gym. Hamline, meanwhile, set a new MIAC record for field goal shooting percentage in a game as the Pipers defeated Gustavus Adolphus in a
69-65 battle in Saint Paul on Saturday afternoon.
Last Meeting — January 6, 2010: Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) tossed in a career-best 24 points, while
Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) recorded career bests in points (16) and rebounds (16) — not to mention a career-first double-double — as the pair helped lead the Cardinals to a
77-69 MIAC victory over Hamline at the SMU Gym.
Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) scored a team-high 14 points — including 12 in the second half when she drained all three of her 3-pointers — in Saturday's loss vs. St. Catherine. …
Kim Kaminski (Milwaukee, Wis.) chipped in 10 points vs. the Wildcats, finishing one point shy of the career-high 11 points she scored last Wednesday vs. Carleton. …
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.), who scored a game-high 22 points in the Cardinals' win over Carleton last Wednesday, was held to eight points vs. St. Catherine Saturday. The eight-point effort snapped Miller's run of six straight double-figure scoring performances. … Miller has scored 20 or more points three times this season — including a career-best 29 points on Dec. 7 against Gustavus. … Miller, who extended her consecutive starts streak to 71 Saturday against St. Catherine, has scored in double figures in 16 of the team's 21 games. …
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) has accounted for three of the Cardinals' five 20-point performances this season (27, 22 and 21 points). Miller (27 points) and Kulig (24 points) are the other two. …
Renee Pecarina (Winona, Minn.) enjoyed a career night vs. Carleton last Wednesday, pulling down a career-best nine rebounds — all on the defensive end. … The Cardinals have recorded two double-doubles this season — Thone scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds vs. Bethel on Jan. 23 en route to her first collegiate double-double, while
Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) put together a 16-point, 16-rebound effort vs. Hamline on Jan. 6. … Miller enters today's game boasting a team-best 14.2 ppg scoring average. She also ranks fifth in the MIAC in scoring, averaging 15.8 ppg in 18 conference games … Thone leads the team in 3-pointers (37), while Kulig boasts a team-high 70 assists. … Wednesday's 58-49 win over Carleton snapped a couple of streaks for the Cardinals, who not only put an end to their season-high seven-game losing streak, but also snapped an 11-year winless drought at Carleton, where SMU had not won since a 77-73 win on Feb. 21, 1998. … The Cardinals' 80-70 loss vs. Carleton in their first meeting on Jan. 4 was the first OT game of the season and just the second in the last three seasons for SMU. The Cardinals beat Bethel 73-69 in double overtime a year ago.
Hamline Piper Notes: The Pipers' win over Gustavus Saturday was their third straight and fourth in their last five games. … The Pipers shot 70.3 percent from the field in handing the Gusties just their second loss in their last 12 games, besting the previous MIAC record of 70.0 percent, set by Augsburg in 1984. … Mary Wilkowski scored a team-best 19 points, while Tromesa May chipped in 13 vs. the Gusties Saturday. The two also each pulled down eight rebounds. … Wilkowski has now led the team in scoring in each of its last four games. She has also led the team in rebounding in 16 of the Pipers' 21 games. … Wilkowski and Jackie Kelly enter tonight's game vs. SMU averaging in double figures at 17.1 ppg and 11.1 ppg, respectively. … Wilkowski, who also baosts a team-leading 9.0 rebounds-per-game, is second in the MIAC in rebounding, collecting 8.6 rpg in 18 conference games. … Wilkowski's 32-point effort against Augsburg on Dec. 2, 2009, is the second-high offensive performance in the MIAC this season. … Kelly has netted nearly half of the team's 3-pointers, draining 51 of the Pipers 103 treys. … Hamline is 6-3 at home. … As a team, the Pipers hold the conference's top two offensive showings this season, scoring 104 points vs. St. Olaf on Dec. 9, 2009 and 97 against Curry College on Dec. 18, 2009.
