ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team hits the road on Saturday for their final regular-season game, as the Cardinals travel to St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. contest against the MIAC regular-season champion Tommies.



The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (13-8 MIAC | 13-11 Overall)
at St. Thomas Tommies (21-0 MIAC | 23-1 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals picked up their 13th win of the season Wednesday, getting double-figure scoring from three players and rallying from a two-point halftime deficit to beat Hamline 60-56 at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, kept its conference record unblemished on Wednesday, cruising to a 71-56 conference win over Bethel at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

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 (21-0) and Gustavus (16-5) have clinched the top two seeds. Concordia (14-7) is currently third, followed by Saint Mary's (13-8), St. Olaf (13-8 and Bethel (12-9). … Concordia finishes the regular season Saturday vs. Saint Benedict (10-11), while SMU squares off against St. Thomas, St. Olaf faces Carleton (2-19) and Bethel goes up against Gustavus.

SMU Playoff Scenarios:
No. 3 Seed (and home playoff game): The Cardinals cannot be the MIAC playoff's No. 3 seed. If SMU wins and Concordia loses Saturday, the two teams will be tied at 14-8, but the Cobber hold the tie-breaker, having swept the Cardinals in their two regular-season games this season
No. 4 Seed (and home playoff game): If SMU wins vs. St. Thomas Saturday and St. Olaf falls to Carleton, the Cardinals would earn the fourth seed and host the fifth seed next Tuesday at the SMU Gym.
No. 5-6 Seed: If SMU and St. Olaf both win, or both lose, Saturday — or if SMU loses and St. Olaf wins — St. Olaf would earn the No. 4 seed and would host either SMU or Bethel. If SMU and Bethel finish tied — with a Bethel win Saturday and an SMU loss — Bethel would land the No. 5 seed via the second tie-breaking criteria (combined results against those teams tied — SMU would be 0-8 vs. St. Thomas, Gustavus, Concordia and St. Olaf, while Bethel would be 2-6 with wins over Concordia and Gustavus). Bethel would then travel to St. Olaf, while SMU would be No. 6 and head to Concordia.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
January 21, 2012: After managing just nine first-half points against the high-powered Tommies, the Cardinals erupted for 40 points over the game's final 20 minutes. SMU's furious, second-half rally, however, fell just short, as UST hung on for a 56-49 conference win at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
January 3, 2011: A tough first half for Cardinals — one where they shot only 24 percent from the field — enabled the Tommies to pull ahead and never let SMU back into the game en route to a 69-55 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at the SMU Gym.
February 2, 2011: The Cardinals gave St. Thomas all it could handle for 20 minutes Wednesday evening, battling the Tommies to a 30-30 deadlock at the break. Over the final 20 minutes, however, the Tommies took charge, outscored SMU 42-23 in handing the Cardinals a 72-53 conference setback at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
Saturday's game is the regular-season finale for both the Cardinals and the Tommies. UST has already solidified its spot as the No. 1 seed and will host a second round game in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday, Feb. 23. SMU, meanwhile, will have to wait until Saturday's games are complete to see where their first-round MIAC playoff game will be on Feb. 21.

Saint Mary's Cardinals News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule | 2011-12 Media Guide
The Cardinals' 60-56 win over Hamline Wednesday was their 13th of the season — the most since SMU went 18-8 during the 2004-2005 season. … With last Saturday's 61-52 win over Augsburg, the Cardinals locked up their first MIAC post-season berth since the 2004-2005 season. … The Cardinals enter Saturday's regular-season finale vs. St. Thomas riding a two-game winning streak and having won four of their last five games. … SMU is 10-4 in its last 14 games. … Wednesday's win over Hamline marked the fifth time this season the Cardinals have won when trailing at halftime. … After scoring 34 first-half points against Augsburg last Saturday, SMU scored 34 second-half points against the Pipers Wednesday. … Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a game-high 18 points against Hamline Wednesday. … Thone has now led the team in scoring in eight of SMU's last nine games. … Thone, who enters Saturday's regular-season finale vs. UST averaging a team-best 13.3 ppg, has now scored 10 or more points 18 times this season. … Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) chipped in 16 points against Hamline Wednesday, while Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Min.) added 14. … Stefely, who picked up her team-leading seventh double-double of the season vs. Macalester on Feb. 4, has now scored in double figures 18 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, who eclipsed the 100-assist mark with six helpers against Macalester on Feb. 4, leads the team — and the entire MIAC — with 112 assists this season. Thone also leads the team in 3-pointers (34) and free throws made (86). … Stefely also enters Saturday's game at St. Thomas averaging in double figures at 11.9 ppg. … Stefely is the team's rebounding leading with 185 boards (7.7 rpg) … Stefely, Euerle (152) and Thone (106) have all eclipsed the 100-rebound plateau this season. … The Cardinals, who are averaging 56.9 ppg this season, have knocked down 105 3-pointers. … The Cardinals were 21-for-22 from the free throw line vs. Hamline Wednesday — led by Euerle (8-for-8), Thone (7-for-7) and Stefely (4-for-4). … 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 their 67-44 victory on Feb. 1. …  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. … The Cardinals enjoyed a season-high five-game winning streak in early January, it was their longest since opening the 204-05 season with five consecutive wins. … 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.

St. Thomas Tommies News and Notes:
2011-12 Roster | 2011-12 Statistics | 2011-12 Schedule
St. Thomas enters Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Saint Mary's riding a 23-game winning streak. … St. Thomas' 23-game win streak is the program's longest since 1999-2000 when it won 26 in a row en route to a third-place NCAA finish. … UST joined the national top-25 polls in late January — the program's first Division III ranking in 10 seasons. St. Thomas has climbed to No. 13 in the WBCA Coaches poll, 14th by D3Hoops.com, and sits No. 2 in the NCAA West Region. … St. Thomas has won either the MIAC regular-season or playoff championship in four of the past five seasons. The Tommies are 51-7 against conference opponents since January 2010, and 32-3 against all foes since January 2011. … The Tommies are the top seed for the conference playoffs and will play in the postseason for the 25th time in the last 26 seasons. … With a victory on Saturday, St. Thomas would become just the seventh conference basketball team — men or women — to close out a 20-0 or 22-0 slate in the MIAC season. The UST women have done it previously in 1991-92, 1995-96, 1996-97 (all 20-0) and 1999-2000 (22-0). St. Ben's did it in 1992-93 (20-0). The St. Thomas men went 20-0 in both 1994-95 and 2008-09. … Taylor Young, who is averaging a team-best 13.1 ppg, scored 22 points in Wednesday's win over Bethel. … Young is the lone Tommie scoring more than 12 points a contest. The Tommies are averaging nearly 25 bench points a game. … Sarah Smith, one of three seniors on the Tommies' roster, has played in 104 games (74 starts) and has 726 points and 587 rebounds, while shooting 76 percent from the free throw line and 54 percent from the field. … Smith has 10 career double-doubles, with UST going a perfect 10-0 in those 10 contests. … St. Thomas is 26-3 when Smith scores in double figures. … With Wednesday's win over Bethel, the Tommies improved to 10-0 on their home court this season. Over the past two years, UST is 20-2 against MIAC opponents at Schoenecker Arena — with both losses coming to Concordia a year ago.