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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team doesn't officially kick off its season until next Friday, when the Cardinals square off against Alma in the first round of the North Central (Ill.) Tip-Off Tournament in Naperville, Ill.

Unofficially, the Cardinals' season got underway on Saturday, as SMU traveled across town for an exhibition game against Winona State.

And what an exhibition it was.

The Cardinals got a game-high 22 points from Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) and 16 from Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.), as SMU beat Winona State 74-68 at McCown Gym.

SMU missed its first two field goal attempts, but once the Cardinals found their shooting touch, there was no stopping them. SMU, which trailed by as many as seven early in the opening half, grabbed a three-point, 35-32 lead on a Thone 3-pointer. The Cardinals would build their lead to as many as seven, before settling for a 39-35 halftime advantage.

Stefely — a First-Team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection a year ago — was unstoppable in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting and a pair of free throws.

Winona State scored the first four points of second half to tie it 39-39, but the next 10 minutes were all SMU, as the Cardinals used a 12-3 run to take a 54-42 with 12:37 remaining.

The Warriors cut the gap to six, 67-61, with 1:35 remaining, and made it 71-66 on a layup by Becca Friestleben with 50 seconds on the clock. But that was as close as WSU would get, as the Cardinals beat Winona State for the first time since a 72-66 victory on Jan. 1, 2005.

Stefely netted 10 points in the second half en route to her game-high 22 points, while Thone made her first four field goals and her first four free throw attempts en route to her 16 points. Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, netting 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds.