WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team begins a stretch of three straight home games on Wednesday, hosting Gustavus in a key MIAC contest. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (12-3 MIAC | 15-3 Overall)
vs. Gustavus Gusties (11-4 MIAC | 12-6 Overall)

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Last Action:
SMU got double-figure scoring from three players, and outscored host St. Catherine 43-19 in the second half, as the Cardinals cruised to a 68-40 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn., Saturday.… Gustavus, meanwhile, lost a heartbreaker to Saint Benedict at Gus Young Court Saturday. After 13 lead changes through 39 minutes, Saint Benedict took the lead for good, beating GAC 68-66 in a battle of two of the four second-place teams in the conference standings.

SMU vs. Gustavus — Earlier This Year:
January 2, 2013: SMU boasted three players in double figures in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with Gustavus. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Gusties answered with five double-figure scorers, as GAC outlasted SMU 86-66 in a battle of conference heavyweights at Gus Young Court in St. Peter, Minn.

SMU vs. Gustavus — A Year Ago:
January 4, 2012: SMU's game against Gustavus started well for the Cardinals — as Kaitlyn Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) drained a 3-pointer for an early 3-0 SMU lead. And it ended on a high note, as the Cardinals closed the game on a 5-0 run. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the in-between wasn't nearly as memorable, as Gustavus raced out to a 38-20 halftime advantage and never looked back in handing the Cardinals a 59-45 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.
February 8, 2012: Gustavus turned a one-point, 29-28 halftime advantage into a 14-point victory, outscoring SMU 41-28 over the game's final 20 minutes in dealing the Cardinals a 70-56 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Gus Young Court.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on their home court this weekend, hosting Carleton on Saturday and league-leading Concordia on Sunday. Both games are set for 1 p.m. at the SMU Gym. … Gustavus, meanwhile, hits the road again on Saturday, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup with Hamline at Hutton Arena.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
With Saturday's 68-40 win over St. Catherine, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to seven straight — their longest since SMU opened the 1985-86 season with a 19-game winning streak. … The Cardinals' win Saturday was their 15th of the season — the most in coach Mandy Pearson's six years and the most since the 2004-2005 season, when SMU finished 18-8. … The Cardinals head into Wednesday's game against Gustavus at the SMU Gym a perfect 6-0 on their home court. … Fueled by their current seven-game winning streak — all in conference play — the Cardinals improved to 12-3 in the MIAC and enter Wednesday's game against Gustavus tied with Saint Benedict for second place, one game behind league-leading Concordia and one game ahead of the Gusties and St. Thomas. … SMU's 62-56 win over then-12th-ranked St. Thomas last Wednesday snapped its 11-game losing streak vs. UST. … Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) scored a game-high 13 points against St. Catherine on Saturday. … Thone has now scored in double figures in 29 of the team's last 34 games. … Thone scored a game-high 18 points against Hamline on Jan. 21. With her seventh point of the game, Thone became the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. … Thone became the third straight Jess to eclipse the 1,000 career-point barrier — following Jessica Weisbrod (1,054, 2004-08) and Jess Miller (1,203, 2007-11). … Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) and Brittany Begrowicz (Des Plaines, Ill.) also scored in double figures against the Wildcats Saturday, with Stefely netting 12 points and Begrowicz 10. … Stefely also hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds, giving the senior post her fourth double-double of the season and 15th of her collegiate career. … Stefely scored a game-high 23 points in SMU's win over nationally ranked St. Thomas last Wednesday. It was the sixth time this season — four by Stefely and one by Thone — SMU boasted a scorer with 20 or more points. … Thone has scored 20 or more points eight times in her four-year collegiate career, while Stefely has eclipsed 20 points seven times. … The Cardinals have posted three games with four double-figure scorers this season. … Stefely enters Wednesday's conference game against Gustavus averaging a team-best 12.9 ppg, while Thone is second at 11.8 ppg. … Thone, the conference assist leader a year ago with 123, dished out a season-high eight assists vs. St. Thomas last Wednesday, and owns a team-best 68 helpers this season. … Thone has also knocked down 25 of the team's 75 3-pointers, while Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn. / 17), Bridget Pethke (Larsen, Wis. / 13) and Sara Schoenthaler (Hugo, Minn. / 11) have also netted 10 or more treys. … As a team, the Cardinals drained a season-high nine 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Jan. 16. … The Cardinals held Augsburg to 14 first-half points on Jan. 19, marking the third time this season SMU has held its opponents to under 15 points in the game's opening 20 minutes. SMU limited Macalester to 14 first-half points on Jan. 9, while allowing just nine points in the first half against St. Catherine on Dec. 1. … As a team, the Cardinals dished out 28 assists vs. Bethel on Jan. 12, the most since the Cardinals tallied 28 assists vs. Cal Lutheran on Nov. 26, 2004. … The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 1091-935, and enter Wednesday's game vs. Gustavus averaging 60.6 ppg. … SMU's 85 points against Bethel on Jan. 12 were a season high, and the most by a Cardinal team since scoring 97 against Augsburg on Dec. 4, 2004. … SMU's 62-59 win over Augsburg on Jan. 19 was the Cardinals' first overtime game of the season. The win also snapped a streak of four straight OT losses, dating back to a 73-69 double-overtime win over Bethel on Jan. 24, 2009.

Scouting The Gustavus Gusties:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
After putting together a season-high eight-game winning streak, the Gusties have gone 3-4 in their last seven contests — including 1-3 in their last four. … GAC's 66 points in last Saturday's 68-66 loss to Saint Benedict was its highest offensive output in a loss all season. The Gusties have been held under 50 points in four of their six losses this season. … Four Gustavus players finished in double-figures against Saint Benedict, led by Kelsey Florian with 14. Julia Dysthe finished with 12 points, while Lindsey Johnson recorded 12 points off the bench and Abby Rothenbuehler tallied 10. … Florian became the third different leading scorer in the last three games for the Gusties. … Rothenbuehler recorded a team-high six rebounds vs. Saint Benedict Saturday and has led the team in rebounding 15 times this season. … Rothenbuehler owns four double-doubles, as well as the Gusties' top two individual scoring performances — a 23-point effort against Augsburg on Nov. 28, and a season-best 26-point showing against Bethel on Jan. 23. … GAC enters Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's boasting three players averaging in double figures, led by Rothenbuehler with a 12.8 ppg scoring average. Dysthe and Florian are the other two, averaging 11.3 ppg and 10.9 ppg, respectively. … Rothenbuehler also owns a team-leading 149 rebounds (8.3 rpg), while Florian has recorded a team-high 53 assists and Dysthe has compiled a team-best 41 steals. … GAC has drained 69 3-pointers, led by Stephanie Comer (24), Dysthe (16) and Rothenbuehler (14). … As a team, Gustavus comes into Wednesday's game averaging 63.2 ppg, while holding its opponents to 58.5 ppg. … Seven of Gustavus' 12 wins have come on the road, where the Gusties boast a 7-3 record. GAC is 5-3 on its home court — including an 86-66 win over Saint Mary's on Jan. 2.