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WINONA, Minn. — By National Football League standards, Sunday's “Big Game” was set for a 5:37 p.m. kickoff between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans, La.

By Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standards, Sunday's “Big Game” took place at 1 p.m. between the Concordia Cobbers and the Saint Mary's University Cardinals at the SMU Gym.

The Cobbers entered Sunday's conference showdown riding a seven-game winning streak that had them perched atop the MIAC standings — one game in front of the red-hot Cardinals, who sported a rather impressive nine-game win streak of their own.

And the game lived up to its billing.

Concordia rained down six 3-pointers in the game's opening 20 minutes to build an eight-point halftime lead and the Cardinals never recovered, as the Cobbers maintained its stranglehold on the conference lead with a 64-54 victory.

Concordia displayed its 3-point shooting prowess in the first half, as the Cobbers drained 4 of their first 6 treys to grab a 21-10 advantage eight minutes in. The Cardinals cut the gap to 10, 30-20 with 5:18 left, then used a 7-0 run down the stretch to make it an eight-point, 35-27 CC leads at the half.

SMU shot 42 percent (13-for-31) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, but the Cobbers were even better, draining 14 of their 28 field goals — including a 6-for-10 effort from behind the 3-point line — en route to their eight-point halftime edge.

The Cardinals whittled away at the Cobbers' lead in the second half, cutting the gap to seven on three different occasions — the last at 52-45 on a Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) layup with 4:49 remaining in regulation.

That, however would be as close as SMU would get, as CC outscored the Cardinals 12-9 down the stretch to seal its eighth straight win.

Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) scored a team-high 14 points  — including 12 in the first half — to lead the Cardinals, who finished with four players in double figures. Bridget Pethke (Larsen, Wis.) chipped in 13 points, and Thone and Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) each added 12. For the second game in a row, Euerle missed out on a double-double by one rebound, finishing with a team-best nine boards, while Thone dished out a team-leading four assists.

Emily Thesing led three Cobbers in double figures, scoring a game-high 17 points, with Alley Fisher and Tricia Sorensen adding 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The Cardinals (14-4 MIAC, 17-4 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, when they travel to St. Paul, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference game against Macalester at Leonard Center.