ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team hits the road on Wednesday, traveling to Hamline for a 7:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against the Pipers.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (12-8 MIAC | 12-11 Overall)
at Hamline Pipers (6-14 MIAC | 7-16 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals secured a spot in the six-team MIAC conference playoffs Saturday, as SMU knocked off Augsburg 61-52 at the SMU Gym. … Hamline, meanwhile, came out on the short end of a 67-53 MIAC decision against Bethel in Arden Hills, Minn., Saturday.

MIAC Playoff Picture:
The MIAC playoff field is set — St. Thomas, Gustavus, Concordia, Bethel, Saint Mary's and St. Olaf have all locked up invitations to the conference's post-season tournament. All that's left is the seedings. St. Thomas (20-0) and Gustavus (16-4) have clinched the top two seeds, and the first-round bye, while Concordia (13-7) is sitting one game in front of Bethel (12-8), Saint Mary's (12-8) and St. Olaf (12-8) with two games left to play.

SMU vs. Hamline — Earlier This Year:
January 16, 2012: Just two days after rallying for their third straight win with a 39-point effort against the Auggies, the Cardinals scored 32 second-half points against Hamline, rallying from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat the Pipers 52-49 at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
January 15, 2011: SMU managed just eight points through the first 15 minutes, falling behind 17-8, and never recovered, falling to Hamline 57-51 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at HU's Sutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
February 5, 2011: The Cardinals simply had no answer for Hamline's Mary Wilkowski, who scored a game-high 32 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in leading the Pipers to a 70-57 MIAC win over over the Cardinals at the SMU Gym.

Up Next:
The Cardinals close out the 2011-2012 regular-season on Saturday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. showdown against MIAC regular-season champion St. Thomas. … Hamline, meanwhile, finishes its 2011-2012 season with a road game Saturday, traveling to Macalester for a 1 p.m. contest against the Scots.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
With their 61-52 win over Augsburg Saturday, the Cardinals locked up their first MIAC post-season berth since the 2004-2005 season. … The Cardinals' win over Augsburg was their 12th MIAC win of the season, their most since 2004-2005. … With Saturday's win, the Cardinals have now won three of their last four contests. … SMU is 9-4 in its last 13 games. … The Cardinals held Augsburg to a school-record low nine first-half points Saturday. On the flip side, SMU poured in 34 points in the game's opening 20 minutes against the Auggies — marking the ninth time this season the Cardinals have eclipsed the 30-point barrier in the first half. … After being held to just five points against Gustavus last weekend — which snapped a string of 11 straight games in which she had scored in double figures — Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) poured in a team-high 16 points against Augsburg Saturday. … Thone has now led the team in scoring in seven of SMU's last eight games. … Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) chipped in 15 points against Augsburg Saturday, while Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Min.) added 11. … Stefely, who picked up her team-leading seventh double-double of the season vs. Macalester on Feb. 4, has now scored in double figures 17 times this season, including a career-high 25 points in SMU's first meeting against Macalester on Jan. 7. … Thone's 20-point effort against Macalester on Feb. 4, marked the third time this season and sixth time in her career that she has scored 20 or more points. … SMU has recorded 11 double-doubles this season. Along with Stefely's seven, Euerle owns three and Thone has one. … Thone enters Wednesday's game at Hamline boasting a team-leading 13.1 ppg. … Thone, who eclipsed the 100-assist mark with six helpers against Macalester on Feb. 4, leads the team — and the entire MIAC — with 110 assists this season. Thone also leads the team in 3-pointers (33) and free throws made (79). … Stefely also enters Wednesday's game at Hamline averaging in double figures at 11.7 ppg. … Stefely is the team's rebounding leading with 177 boards (7.7 rpg) … The Cardinals, who are averaging 56.8 ppg this season, have knocked down 102 3-pointers. … SMU's 57-52 win over Macalester on Feb. 4, in which the Cardinals' trailed by five, 28-23, at halftime, marked the fourth time this season SMU has won when trailing at the half. … SMU's 20 steals in its 60-59 OT loss to Concordia on Jan. 29 were a season high. … The Cardinals scored a season-high 40 second-half points in their Jan. 21, 56-49 loss to St. Thomas. … The Cardinals' top two offensive performance have both come against St. Catherine — 69 points in their 69-44 win on Jan. 2, and 67 in Wednesday's 67-44 victory. …  SMU's 60-59 loss vs. Concordia on Jan. 29 was the first overtime game of the season for the Cardinals, who are still looking for their first OT win since a 73-69 double-overtime victory over Bethel on Jan. 24, 2009. SMU was 0-2 in OT games a year ago, and 0-1 in 2009-10. … With their 55-50 win at Saint Benedict on Jan. 25, the Cardinals put an end to a pair of streaks that started during the 1986-87 season. SMU put an end to a 26-game losing streak at Saint Benedict, while also completing its first season sweep of the Blazers since beating CSB 57-53 and 59-42 during the 1985-86 season. … SMU's 61-60 win over Carleton on Jan. 18 was the Cardinals' second-straight one-point win over the Knights this season. SMU dropped Carleton 58-57 to opening conference play on Nov. 30.against St. Catherine.

Hamline Pipers News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
Hamline's 67-53 loss to Bethel Saturday dropped the Pipers to 1-3 in their last four games. … Since opening the 2012 portion of their second with back-to-back wins over Augsburg and Carleton, the Pipers have gone 3-10 in their last 13 games. … With their 51-47 win over Carleton on Feb. 8, Hamline recorded its first season sweep of the Knights since the 1996-97 season. … Kara Poirier and Steph Pilgrim each scored 13 points, while Jordan Sammons added 10 for the Pipers against Bethel Saturday. The trio accounted for 36 of the team's 53 points vs. the Royals. … Hamline enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's boasting three players averaging in double figures, led by Sammons at 14.6 ppg. Poirier (11.5 ppg) and Steph Pilgrim (11.2 ppg) are the other two. … Sammons has dished out a team-best 63 assists this season, while also owning a team-leading 153 rebounds (6.7 rpg). … Hamline has drained 149 3-pointers this season, led by Pilgrim with 61 and Poirier with 40. … Hamline enters Wednesday's game vs. SMU averaging 58.6 ppg. … The Pipers scored a season-high 106 points in a 106-100 double-overtime win over St. Catherine on Dec. 3. … HU's 106 points vs. St. Catherine were the most points the Pipers have ever scored in an MIAC game. It was also the most points HU has scored since setting a team record with 118 against North Central in a 2004 nonconference game. … Five of Hamline's seven wins have come on their home court. HU is 2-10 away from Hutton Arena.