Box Score  | GameDay Preview

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The last time the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team was at the Leonard Center, the Cardinals trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half — only to use a 24-7 run over the game's final nine minutes to rally for a 55-53 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over host Macalester at Leonard Center.

Thursday evening, SMU was back on the Leonard Center court — which meant another second-half comeback was in order.

The Cardinals used back-to-back three-point plays — a 3-point bomb by Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) and a basket and free throw by Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) — in erasing a six-point Macalester advantage and propelling SMU to a 53-44 victory in the teams' conference opener.

The Cardinals — coming off an 88-point performance in a season-opening 88-55 win over UW-La Crosse last Saturday — struggled to find their shooting touch early, missing their first four field-goal attempts, before an Euerle layup four minutes in gave SMU a 2-0 lead.

Over the next 16 minutes, the lead would change hands five times — with Macalester holding the biggest lead of the half at five points, 13-8 — and the Scots used a 3-0 half-ending run to break a 25-25 tie and send the Cardinals into the locker room down by three, 28-25.

The Scots pushed their lead to six, 35-29, early in the second half, but the momentum shifted and it was all SMU down the stretch. Pethke's 3-pointer gave SMU its first lead since late in the first half, 43-41, and Euerle followed with her three-point play to make it a 46-41 Cardinal advantage.

After a 3-pointer by Erin Murray cut the Cardinal lead to two, 46-44, SMU would knock down 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to seal the nine-point win.

Euerle and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) finished with 11 points to lead the Cardinals, while Mariam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) chipped in a career-high 10 points. SMU shot 29 percent from the field (17-for-58), while draining 16 of 24 free throws — including a 12-for-18 showing in the second half.

Murray finished with 12 points to lead the way for Macalester, which fell to 1-3 on the season.

The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 2-0 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they step out of conference play for a 5:30 p.m. nonconference showdown against Crown at the SMU Gym.