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ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — Saint Mary's University's Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a team-high 12 points in the Cardinals' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Saint Benedict Saturday afternoon — but none were more important than her last two.

Thone took the in-bounds pass, drove the length of the court and drained a jumper with nine seconds remaining in regulation, as the Cardinals handed the Blazers a 60-58 MIAC setback — SMU's third straight win over Saint Benedict.

Coming off a pair of five-point victories over Saint Benedict a year ago, coach Mandy Pearson knew that Saturday's contest was going to be a nailbiter — and the Cardinals and Blazers didn't disappoint.

SMU led by as many as six points in the opening 20 minutes, while CSB owned leads as big as five, including 36-31 at the half.

The Blazers appeared to grab control early in the second half, using an 8-2 to run to push their lead to 11, 44-33, with 16:33 remaining.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, things are always as they appear, as SMU whittled away at the CSB lead before finally knotting things up at 54-54 with 5:17 on the clock.

The teams traded baskets, before settling for their fourth tie of the game, 58-58, with 1:50 remaining — setting up Thone's late-game heroics.

Along with Thone's 12 points, SMU also got 10 points and five rebounds from Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.), while Brianna Barrett netted a game-high 13 points to lead the way for the Blazers.

SMU (4-1 MIAC, 6-1 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against UW-La Crosse.