ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team hits the road on Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to Hamline's Hutton Arena for a 7:30 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against the Pipers.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-1 MIAC | 10-1 Overall) at Hamline Pipers (1-7 MIAC | 2-9 Overall)

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Last Action:
SMU took control from the opening tip — scoring back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game and never looking back in cruising to a 68-55 conference win over Carleton Monday at the SMU Gym. … Chelsey Bonsante scored a game-high 22 points, but it was not enough, as Hamline dropped a 76-62 conference decision against Bethel at Robertson Center in Arden Hills, Minn.

SMU vs. Hamline — A Year Ago:
December 3, 2012: SMU, behind a 16-point effort from Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) and a double-double by Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.), shook off a sluggish start and cruised to their fifth straight win, beating Hamline 62-53 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at the SMU Gym.
January 21, 2013: Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) became the 10th SMU player to score 1,000 career points, as the senior netted a game-high 18 points in leading the Cardinals to a 62-59 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Hamline at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return to their home court — when they are 5-0 this season and 16-1 over the past two seasons — on Saturday, as SMU hosts Gustavus in a key 1 p.m. MIAC contest. … Hamline is back in action on Saturday, when the Pipers entertain St. Olaf in a 1 p.m. conference matchup at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
With Monday's 68-55 victory over Carleton, the Cardinals — who have now won seven straight — moved into a virtual tie atop the conference standings with St. Thomas and Bethel. The Tommies, who handed Bethel its first loss of the season on Wednesday, are sitting at 8-1 in conference play, while SMU and Bethel are one-half game back at 7-1. … SMU's 10-1 start to the season marks the first time the Cardinals have started the season with 10 wins in their first 11 games since 1985-86, when Saint Mary's opened 19-0 en route to a 24-3 overall record and a berth in the NCAA national tournament. … Fueled by their seven-game winning streak, the Cardinals head into Wednesday's game at Hamline having won 10 of their last 11, 15 of their previous 17 and 24 of the last 27 over the past two seasons. … SMU's 68-55 win over Carleton pushed the Cardinals' record to 5-0 on their home court this season. SMU boasts a 16-1 record on their home court over the last two seasons — the lone loss coming at the hands of 2013-14 regular-season conference champion Concordia on Feb. 3, 2013. … For the third game in a row, and seventh time this season, Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) — the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week — led the team in scoring against Carleton Monday, tossing in 17 points. … Auseth, who scored a career-high 28 points in SMU's 99-81 win over North Central (Ill.) on Dec. 28, has scored in double figures in eight of the team's 11 games. … Auseth's 28-point effort vs. North Central (Ill.) was the highest single-season output since Jess Miller tossed in 29 points against Gustavus on Dec. 7, 2009. … Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) chipped in 11 points against the Knights Monday. … Auseth and Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) head into Wednesday's game at Hamline averaging in double figures at 13.4 ppg and 10.8 ppg, respectively. … Auseth, who is shooting 50 percent from the field (54-for-109), ranks third in the conference in field goal percentage. … Euerle also leads the team with 78 rebounds (7.1 rpg) in 11 games. … SMU has had five or more players score in double figures in the same game twice this season — the Cardinals boasted six double-figure scorers in its 107-29 win over Crown on Nov. 23 and five in their 99-81 victory over North Central (Ill.) on Dec. 28. … Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.), who scored a season-high 13 points against St. Catherine on Jan. 8, leads the team with 56 assists. … Pethke equaled her career-best with seven assists vs. St. Olaf on Dec. 9. It was the second time this season and sixth time in her collegiate career that Pethke has hit the seven-assist mark. … Saint Mary's, which has recorded three games of eight or more 3-pointers — including a season-high nine treys against St. Olaf on Dec. 9 — owns 68 3-pointers through 11 games. … SMU's nine 3-pointers against St. Olaf were the most since tossing in nine against St. Olaf on Jan. 16, 2013. … SMU boasts four players — Rice (22), Sara Schoenthaler (White Bear Lake, Minn. / 14), Auseth (12) and Pethke (11) — with 10 or more 3-pointers this season. … Schoenthaler (14-for-32, 44%) and Rice (22-for-53, 42%) rank No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in 3-point field goal percentage. … When the Cardinals beat North Central (Ill.) 99-81 on Dec. 28, they fell one point short of notching their second 100-point game of the season, having already set a school record with 107 points in a 107-29 win over Crown on Nov. 23. … SMU heads into Wednesday's game at Hamline averaging 74.4 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 56.5 ppg. … The Cardinals' 66-57 win over Concordia on Jan. 4 was SMU's first vs. the Cobbers in head coach Mandy Pearson's seven years at the helm — and snapped an 18-game losing streak against the Cobbers dating back to a 71-58 win on Feb. 15, 2004. It was also SMU's first win at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium since the Cardinals recorded a 58-46 win on Jan. 20, 2003. … The Cardinals broke a pair of long-standing school records with their 107-29 victory over Crown on Nov. 23. The Cardinals' 107 points were a school record — breaking the previous high of 106 set in a 106-30 win over Carleton on Feb. 19, 1986. SMU's 78-point margin of victory was also a new school record, two points better than the old mark of 76, also set during that Feb. 19, 1986 win over Carleton.

Scouting The Hamline Pipers:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of four straight home games for the Pipers, who are 1-2 on their home court this season. … Saturday's 76-62 loss to Bethel was the second straight setback for the Pipers. … HU's 90-58 win over Cal-Tech on Dec. 31 snapped the Pipers' season-opening seven-game losing streak. … Chelsey Bonsante scored a game-high 22 points for the Pipers against Bethel last Saturday, while Jordan Sammons — the conference's leading scorer — chipped in a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. … With her 19 points, Sammons moved to within 30 points of reaching the 1,000 career-point plateau. … Sammons enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a double-double — 21.4 ppg and 10.2 rpg. … Sammons has led the team in scoring in seven of its 11 games, while being the rebounding leader in eight of 11 contests. … Sammons is the only player in the MIAC averaging more than 20 points a game. Her 21.4 ppg average is four points per game better than the MIAC's No. 2 scorer Skylar Tsutsui of Carleton. … Sammons has scored 20 or more points six times, including 30 points against Gustavus and a season-best 35 against Northwestern. … As a team, the Pipers have drained 72 3-pointers, led by Bonsante with 21 and Sammons with 15. … Chloe Graves has dished out a team-best 31 assists, while Sammons is the team-leader with 37 steals. … Hamline is averaging 64.9 ppg, while the Pipers' opponents are scoring at a 72.6 ppg clip.