ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team hits the road Wednesday, as the Cardinals square off against nationally ranked St. Thomas in an early season MIAC showdown at 7:30 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-0 MIAC | 5-0 Overall)
at #4 St. Thomas Tommies (3-0 MIAC | 5-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals pushed their season-opening winning streak to five straight, as Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) scored 16 points and Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) notched a double-double in leading SMU to a 62-53 MIAC win over Hamline Monday at the SMU Gym. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, got 18 points from Taylor Young, as the Tommies remained perfect in conference play with a 65-53 win over Concordia Monday at Schoenecker Arena.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 21, 2012: St. Thomas put an end to SMU's five-game winning streak — its longest streak since winning 19 in a row to open the 1985-86 season — holding off a furious SMU second-half charge in handing Saint Mary's a 56-49 setback at the SMU Gym.
February 18, 2012: The Tommies built an eight-point halftime lead and never let the Cardinals claw their way back in completing a perfect 22-0 run through the conference schedule by handing SMU a 64-51 setback at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
February 23, 2012: MIAC regular-season champion St. Thomas scored the game's first four points and never relinquished the lead, holding off a late second-half SMU charge to hand the Cardinals a season-ending 58-45 setback in the second round of the MIAC playoffs at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on the road on Saturday, traveling to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference game against Saint Benedict, … St.. Thomas, meanwhile, is off until next Tuesday, when UST hosts St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
Wednesday's game against fourth-ranked St. Thomas is the first of three straight road games for the Cardinals to close out the 2012 portion of their schedule. … With Monday's 62-53 win over Hamline, the Cardinals improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season. SMU is looking to go 6-0 for the first time since the Cardinals opened the 1985-86 season by rattling off 19 straight wins. … Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a game-high 16 points against Hamline on Monday. It was the fourth time this season and the 19th time in her last 21 games that Thone has scored 10 or more points. … With her 16 points vs. the Pipers, Thone moved to within 126 points of becoming the 10th player in SMU women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau. … Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) recorded her second double-double of the season vs. Hamline Monday, netting 15 points and adding 12 rebounds. … Stefely has now recorded 13 double-doubles in her collegiate career. … The Cardinals have now had a player notch a double-double in three of their five games this season. Along with Stefely's two, Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) posted an 11-point, 10-rebound performance against St. Catherine last Saturday. It was the fourth double-double of Euerle's career. … Stefely, who scored a season-high 21 points against Olivet on Nov. 17, enters Wednesday's showdown with St. Thomas averaging a team-best 12.3 ppg, while Thone is also averaging in double figures at 10.8 ppg. … Courtney Athons (La Crosse, Wis.) scored a career-high 10 points against Hamline Monday. … Stefely's 21-point performance vs. Olivet on Nov. 17 marked the fourth time in her collegiate career that the Cardinal senior has eclipsed the 20-point mark and was just four points shy of her collegiate-best 25-point showing against Macalester on Jan. 7, 2012. … Thone, the conference assist leader a year ago with 123, has dished out a team-best 20 assists in five games this season. … The Cardinals' limited St. Catherine to 22 points in last Saturday's 40-22 victory. It was the fewest points allowed since SMU held Northwestern to 18 points in a 71-18 win on Feb. 16, 1979. … Saint Mary's held St. Catherine to just nine first-half points on Saturday. It was the fewest points allowed in a half by the Cardinals since limiting Augsburg to nine first-half points on Feb. 11, 2012. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 292-207 — including 157-97 in the first half. … The Cardinals' 69 points in their 69-49 win over Olivet on Nov. 17 equaled SMU's highest offensive output from all of last season. The Cardinals scored 69 points in a 69-44 win over St. Catherine on Jan. 2, 2012.

Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
After opening the season with a 78-72 loss to then No. 1-ranked Calvin, UST has rattled off five straight wins. Among those five wins was a 73-70 victory over UW-Stevens Point, which had replaced Calvin as the nation's next No. 1-ranked team. … St. Thomas enters Wednesday's matchup against Saint Mary's ranked No. 4 in the latest d3hoops.com and USA Today Sports Top 25 polls. … Monday's 65-53 win over Concordia was the Tommies' 27th straight conference win. … UST has also won 18 in a row at home since losing to Concordia in the 2011 MIAC playoff finals. … Young and Kellie Ring led the UST offense against Concordia Monday, scoring 18 and 14 points, respectively. … UST has now had a different scoring leader in each of its last four games. … Anna Smith, meanwhile, recorded 10 of her team-high 11 rebounds against the Cobbers in the second half. … All 11 of Smith's rebounds were on the defensive end. … UST boasts four players averaging in double figures this season, led by Young and Jenna Dockter, who are each averaging 11.3 ppg. Ring and Smith are the other two Tommies averaging in double figures at 10.3 ppg and 10.2 ppg, respectively. … Smith is also the team's rebounding leader, hauling in 40 boards (6.7 rpg). … Ring, the team's lone senior, is the team-leader in assists (13) and steals (24). … As a team, the Tommies are averaging 65.0 ppg. … UST has outscored its opponents 390-331 — including 212-162 in the game's final 20 minutes. … The Tommies placed third nationally in 2011-12, including a 24-0 run through the conference regular-season and playoffs and a 30-game winning streak.