ST. PAUL, Minn. — For the second year in a row, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team heads to St. Thomas for an MIAC Tournament semifinal showdown against the Tommies Thursday. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The MIAC Tournament Schedule:
Tuesday's Results | MIAC Recap
#3 Saint Mary's 76, #6 Gustavus 69 | SMU Recap
#4 Saint Benedict 86, #5 Hamline 79 | CSB Recap
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 | 7:30 p.m.
#4 Saint Benedict (17-5 MIAC, 20-6) at #1 Concordia (19-3 MIAC, 20-5)
#3 Saint Mary's (18-4 MIAC, 22-4) at #2 St. Thomas (18-4, 20-5)
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2013 | 3 p.m.
Semifinal winners at top seed
*Playoff champion earns the MIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats | Live Video | Video Preview | MIAC Tournament Homepage
SMU-UST — Last Action:
The Cardinals rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit, outscoring Gustavus 40-19 over the game's final 18 minutes en route to a 76-69 victory over the Gusties Tuesday evening in an MIAC Tournament quarterfinal game at the SMU Gym. … St. Thomas, meanwhile, has been off since Saturday, when the Tommies closed out their regular-season schedule with a 79-42 conference win over St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minn.
How They Got Here:
The Cardinals finished 18-4 in conference play and tied with St. Thomas for second in the regular-season standings, one game behind regular-season champion Concordia. The Tommies took the No. 2 seed — and the first-round bye — thanks to the second tiebreaker criteria. The two teams split their regular-season series, but UST was 1-1 vs. Concordia, while the Cardinals were 0-2.
SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
December 5, 2012: With both teams boasting perfect MIAC records, SMU's showdown with UST promised to be a true clash of the titans. And after the game's opening 20 minutes, neither team had disappointed, as both teams took their turn in the driver's seat, before the Tommies settled for a one-point, 31-30 halftime advantage. Over the final 20 minutes, however, the Cardinals couldn't find their offensive touch — and the Tommies took advantage, using a 21-2 run early in the second half to pull away for a 65-44 win at Schoenecker Arena.
January 23, 2013: Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) poured in a game-high 23 points and Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) and Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) combined for 24 point points, as SMU rallied from an early 15-2 deficit to beat the Tommies 62-56 at the SMU Gym.
SMU vs. St. Thomas — In The MIAC Tournament:
The Cardinals and Tommies have met twice in the first 12 years of the conference tournament.
February 24, 2003: St. Thomas rallied from an early 17-7 deficit, led by eight at halftime and outscored the Cardinals 45-38 over the game's final 20 minutes en route to a 74-59 victory in the opening round of the conference tournament in St. Paul, Minn.
February 23, 2012: The regular-season champion Tommies scored the game's first four points and never relinquished the lead, holding off a late second-half SMU charge to hand the Cardinals a season-ending 58-45 setback in the MIAC Tournament semifinals at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
The Cardinals are making their second straight appearance in the MIAC Tournament semifinals — and the second straight semifinal appearance against St. Thomas. … Tuesday's tournament-opening win over Gustavus pushed SMU's winning streak to five straight — it's the third time this season the Cardinals have put together a winning streak of five games or more. Along with two five-game winning streaks, SMU put together a season-best nine-game win streak in January — it was the longest such streak since the Cardinals opened the 1985-86 season winning 19 straight games. … The Cardinals have also won 14 of their last 15 games — including eight wins by eight or less points. … Tuesday's win over Gustavus was the Cardinals' 22nd win of the season — the most in coach Mandy Pearson's six years and the most since SMU went 24-3 and finished third in the NCAA regional in 1985-86. … SMU rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit in beating the Gusties Tuesday. It marked the third time this season SMU has erased a deficit of 13 points or more this season. SMU came from 15 points behind in its 55-53 win over Macalester on Feb. 6, while rallying from a 13-point deficit in their 62-56 win over St. Thomas on Jan. 23. … Tuesday's win over GAC marked the seventh time this season SMU has won when trailing at the half. … The Cardinals boasted a trio of players in double figures in their conference tournament-opener against Gustavus, led by Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) with 16 points. Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) and Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) each chipped in 14 points vs. the Gusties. … Stefely has now led the team in scoring in back-to-back games and five times in the last six contests. … Stefely recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 16th of her collegiate career in SMU's regular-season finale against Augsburg last Saturday, pouring in 20 points and adding 10 rebounds. … SMU has had a 20-point scorer eight times this season. Stefely has done it five times this season, while Thone has done it three times. … Thone has scored 20 or more points nine times in her four-year collegiate career, while Stefely has eclipsed the 20-point barrier eight times. … Stefely owns the team's top single-game scoring performance, netting a game- and season-high 23 points in SMU's win over St. Thomas on Jan. 23. … Thone has scored in double figures in 36 of the team's last 42 games. … Thone, who has started every game in her four-year collegiate career — a span of 103 straight games — owns 1,146 career points, ranking her No. 8 all time. … Stefely enters Thursday's tournament semifinal against St. Thomas averaging a team-best 13.4 ppg, while Thone is second at 12.5 ppg. … The Cardinals have boasted four players in double figures in five games this season. … Thone finished with seven assists against Gustavus Tuesday, one shy of her season-best eight-assist effort against St. Thomas on Jan. 23. … Thone needs two assists vs. UST on Thursday to reach 100 assists for the second straight year. … Thone has knocked down 34 of the team's 106 3-pointers, while Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn. / 24), Bridget Pethke (Larsen, Wis. / 19) and Sara Schoenthaler (Hugo, Minn. / 16) 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. … SMU shot 86.5 percent from the free throw line against Gustavus Tuesday, making 32 of 37 attempts. … 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 enter Thursday's game against St. Thomas averaging 61.6 ppg. … With Tuesday's tournament-opening win over Gustavus, SMU improved to 11-1 on its home court this season — with the lone loss coming at the hands of regular-season champion Concordia on Feb. 3. … On the flip side, the Cardinals enter Thursday's semifinal game at St. Thomas 10-3 away from home this season. … SMU's 85 points against Bethel in the teams' first meeting 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 in the teams' first meeting 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. … Speaking of snapping streaks, in the span of back-to-back Wednesdays, the Cardinals put an end to a pair of lengthy losing streaks — SMU snapped an 11-game slide against St. Thomas with a 62-56 win over the then-nationally ranked Tommies on Jan. 23, then ended a 13-game losing streak against Gustavus with its Jan. 30, 65-58 victory. … The Cardinals have held five opponents to less than 15 first-half points this season. SMU limited Alma (Nov. 16), Macalester (Jan. 9), Augsburg (Jan. 19) and Carleton (Feb. 2) each to 14 first-half points, while allowing just nine points in the first half in its first meeting with St. Catherine on Dec. 1.
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2012-13 Roster | 2012-13 Statistics | 2012-13 Schedule
St. Thomas has won 19 or more games in 25 of the last 33 seasons — including a 45-28 record in post-season play. … UST enters Thursday's game against Saint Mary's boasting a 72-11 record against conference opponents since January 2010. … St. Thomas was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally before losing four out of six games in January and dropping out of the top 25. The Tommies were ranked No. 4 in the West Region NCAA coaches' poll last week, best among MIAC teams. … With their regular season-ending win over Saint Benedict last Saturday, St. Thomas pushed its winning streak to seven straight. … The Tommies are 26-1 at home the last two seasons, including an 11-1 mark this season. They are 38-4 on campus in three seasons since the opening of the Anderson Athletics and Recreation Complex. … Five different players have led the Tommies in scoring at least once in the last 11 games. … Jenna Dockter is averaging a team-best 11.6 ppg, while Taylor Young (11.1 ppg) and Anna Smith (10.0 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Smith also leads the Tommies in rebounding, averaging 6.5 rpg. … Young has played in 77 games in her career and has collected 916 points, 316 rebounds and 169 assists while converting 79 percent at the foul line. UST is 71-14 during Young's three-year career. … The Tommies have just one senior — starting point guard Kellie Ring, who leads the MIAC in steals with 84 in 25 games. … Coach Ruth Sinn's last seven Tommie teams have gone a combined 48-9 in February games. Over the last five seasons, UST has an overall record of 111-30. … St. Thomas won the MIAC playoff title as the No. 5 seed in 2009-10 and also won the 2011-12 crown as the top seed. … UST, which won back-to-back conference regular-season championships in 2010-11 and 2011-12, has captured13 MIAC regular-season women's basketball championships to match Saint Benedict for the most by a conference institution. … Over the last four seasons, the Tommies are 68-0 when they hold opponents under 60 points, and 56-2 against MIAC foes when they score 65 or more. … The Tommies, who have pressured teams into 21 turnovers a game and 37 percent shooting, have allowed just 52.3 ppg. UST limited Saint Benedict to a season-low 46 points in their regular-season finale last Saturday. … The Tommies broke the school record for free throw percentage a year ago, finishing at .765. The 2012-13 team has converted at a .748 clip. … From 1990-92, St. Thomas put together a 40-game winning streak that included an NCAA Division III national championship. … The Tommies' all-time NCAA tournament record is 37-19 in 20 appearances since 1984. St. Thomas has played in five Final Fours, with a 1-4 record on Fridays and a 5-0 record on Saturdays. |
