ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team hits the road on Wednesday, traveling to Saint Benedict for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game against the Blazers.






The Teams:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (9-11 MIAC / 11-12 Overall)
St. Catherine Wildcats (15-5 MIAC / 18-5 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats / Live Video

Last Action:
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) scored 21 points Monday evening, but it was not enough, as St. Catherine rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to hand the Cardinals a 70-60 conference loss at Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn. … Saint Benedict, meanwhile, has been off since Saturday, when the Blazers dropped a 76-62 MIAC decision against Concordia in St. Joesph, Minn.

Earlier This Year:
January 17, 2011: The Blazers raced out to a 40-16 halftime advantage — and they needed every one of those additional 24 points to hold off the Cardinals down the stretch en route to a 73-61 victory at the SMU Gym.

A Year Ago:
January 2, 2010: Saint Benedict outscored SMU 35-18 in the second half en route to a 64-41 conference victory in St. Joseph, Minn.

January 30, 2010: CSB knocked down 18 of their 31 first half field goals and rode that 58 percent shooting to a commanding 44-24 halftime advantage. And while the Cardinals matched Saint Benedict point-for-point over the final 20 minutes, they could not cut into the 20-point deficit in falling 81-61 at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals close out their regular-season schedule on Saturday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference game against playoff-bound Gustavus. … Saint Benedict, meanwhile, is also on the road in its regular season finale Saturday, heading to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. matchup with league-leading St. Thomas

MIAC Playoff Picture:
St. Thomas (17-3), Saint Benedict (15-5), Concordia (15-5) and Gustavus (13-7) have already locked up berths in the six-team MIAC playoffs, leaving Bethel (11-9), Macalester (10-10), Saint Mary's (9-11), St. Olaf (9-11) and Hamline (9-11) to battle for the two remaining spots with one week remaining in the regular season. SMU closes with games at playoff-bound Saint Benedict (15-5) and Gustavus (13-7), while Bethel faced St. Olaf and Macalester. Along with its game vs. Bethel, St. Olaf closes out its regular season vs. Carleton (4-16), while Macalester faces Bethel and Carleton, and Hamline squares off against playoff-bound St. Thomas and Concordia.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
Wednesday's game at Saint Benedict is the second of three straight road games to close out the regular season for SMU. … Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) scored 21 points against St. Catherine Monday. It was the second time in as many meetings against the Wildcats that she has scored 21 points. Miller's 21st point vs. SCU on Jan. 12 gave the Cardinal senior 1,000 points for her collegiate career. … Miller has now scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games — she netted 20 points in her final collegiate home game last Saturday against Carleton. … Miller has eclipsed the 20-point barrier seven times this season and 12 times in her career. … Miller enters tonight's game at Saint Benedict having started every game of her collegiate career, a span of 98 straight starts. … Miller, the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, enters the final two regular-season games of her collegiate career with 1,167 points, ranking her seventh on SMU's all-time scoring list. … Cherie Kulig, who equaled her season high with 19 points in her home finale last Saturday against Carleton, chipped in 11 points vs. St. Catherine. … SMU enters tonight's game vs. Saint Benedict with two players — Miller (13.6 ppg) and Kulig (10.0 ppg) — averaging in double figures. … Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) scored a team- and career-high 11 points against St. Olaf on Feb. 9. … Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.), who scored a career-high 21 points and added 10 boards against Augsburg on Jan. 12, has accounted for three of the team's four double-doubles this season. … Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) has made a team-leading 23 3-pointers this season … As a team, the Cardinals have made 93 3-pointers. … SMU's 72 points scored against Carleton last Saturday were the Cardinals' third-highest offensive output of the season. The Cardinals recorded their two highest offensive performances of the season in a seven-day span — netting 76 in a 76-57 win over St. Catherine on Jan. 12, then tallied 74 in a 74-62 win over Augsburg on Jan. 19. … The Cardinals made 26 of 37 free throws in their first meeting with St. Olaf on Jan. 5 — both were season highs. The 26 FTM and 37 FTA were also the most since SMU went 35-for-50 from the charity stripe vs. Hamline on Jan. 7, 2001. … The Cardinals' 72-60 win over Carleton last Saturday was their 11th of the season, marking the first time SMU has reached the 11-win plateau since the 2004-2005 team finished 18-8 overall. That year was also the last time SMU has reached the MIAC post-season tournament | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics

Saint Benedict Blazers News and Notes:
Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the final regular-seaosn home game for the Blazers and seniors Devin Bowlin, Joelle Waytashek, Abby Richardson, Amy Stifter, Laura Canton and Heather Gillund. … Saturday's 76-62 loss at Concordia was the Blazers' second straight. It's the first time this season CSB has dropped back-to-back games. … The Blazers have not lost more than two games in a row in the last decade — including three years in which CSB did not lost back-to-back games all season. … After going 15-1 in their first 16 games, the Blazers are just 3-4 in their last seven. … CSB's 77-58 loss at Hamline on Jan. 26 snapped the Blazers' season-high 11-game winning streak. … Stifter scored a team-high 11 points in CSB's loss to Concordia last Saturday, while Gillund and Morgan Dale each chipped in 10 points. … Stifter, who has now led the team in scoring in each of their last three games, enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's boasting a team-best 14.4 ppg scoring average. … Gillund is also averaging in double figures at 11.6 ppg. … The Blazers are 8-3 on their home floor this season. CSB is 144-16 on its home floor over the past 12 seasons | 2010-2011 Overall Statistics