WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, coming off a 77-47 victory over St. Catherine on Wednesday, return home Saturday, hosting ninth-ranked and league-leading St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Gym.

The Matchup:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-1 MIAC | 8-1 Overall) vs. St. Thomas Tommies (7-0 MIAC | 9-1 Overall)

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program

Last Action:
The Cardinals scored the game's first 10 points and opened the second half on a 9-0 run in cruising to a 77-47 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over St. Catherine Wednesday at Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn. … St. Thomas got 19 points from Katie Stone — including 5 3-pointers — as the ninth-ranked Tommies took care of St. Olaf 75-54 in a conference game Wednesday in Northfield, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
December 5, 2012: SMU and UST both entered their MIAC showdown boasting unblemished 3-0 conference records. 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 in St. Paul, Minn.
January 23, 2013: The first time SMU and St. Thomas squared off this season, the Cardinals entered riding a season-opening five-game winning streak — only to have the Tommies hand them a streak-snapping, 65-44 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback. The second time they squared off, another streak was snapped. This time, however, it was the Cardinals' 11-game losing streak against the 12th-ranked Tommies, as 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 in leading SMU to a 62-56 victory at the SMU Gym.
February 21, 2013: The last time SMU squared off against St. Thomas, the Cardinals rallied from an early 15-2 deficit to beat the then-nationally ranked Tommies 62-56 at the SMU Gym. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there would be no second-half, come-from-behind heroics when they squared off in the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament, as St. Thomas used a game-ending 12-4 run to turn a one-point UST lead into a nine-point, 69-60 Tommie victory at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals are back on their home court on Monday, as SMU hosts Carleton in a 7:30 p.m. contest at the SMU Gym.. … St. Thomas is also back in action on Monday, entertaining Bethel in a 7:30 p.m. showdown at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn. Both games were originally scheduled for last Monday, but was postponed due to frigid temperatures

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
With their 77-47 win over St. Catherine Wednesday, the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to a season-high five games. … Wednesday's victory also improved SMU to 8-1 — marking the first time the Cardinals have started the season 8-1 win 1985-86, when Saint Mary's opened 19-0 en route to a 24-3 overall record and berth in the NCAA national tournament. … SMU now heads into Saturday's showdown with league-leading St. Thomas having won five straight, eight of its last nine, 13 of its previous 15 and 22 of the last 25 over the past two seasons. … The Cardinals are 3-0 at home this season and boast a 14-1 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. … Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) scored a team- and game-high 19 points against St. Catherine on Wednesday. It was the fifth time this season Auseth has led the team in scoring. … 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 six of the team's nine 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. … Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) chipped in a season-high 13 points against the Wildcats Wednesday. … Pethke knocked down her only free throw against SCU Wednesday and is now a perfect 28-for-28 from the free throw line this season. … Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) has scored in double figures in seven of the team's nine games this season and has scored 10 or more points 34 times in her collegiate career. … Auseth and Euerle head into Saturday's game vs. St. Thomas averaging in double figures at 13.3 ppg and 11.2 ppg, respectively. … Euerle also leads the team in rebounding, hauling in 68 boards (7.6 rpg) in nine 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. … Pethke, who leads the team with 47 assists, 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 knocked down eight 3-pointers against St. Catherine Wednesday. It was the second straight game in which SMU netted eight 3-pointers and was one trey short of their season-high nine recorded in its 68-57 win over St. Olaf on Dec. 9. … SMU's nine 3-pointers against St. Olaf were the most since tossing in nine against St. Olaf on Jan. 16, 2013. … The Cardinals have now drained 58 3-pointers in nine games — led by Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) with 17 and Sara Schoenthaler (White Bear Lake, Minn.) with 13. … 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 Saturday's game vs. St. Thomas averaging 77.1 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 56.9 ppg. … The Cardinals' 66-57 win over Concordia on Jan. 4 was SMU's first 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
The Tommies head into Saturday's game with Saint Mary's ranked No. 9 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. … After opening the season with a one-point, 77-76 loss to Whitman, the Tommies have won nine straight. UST is also 20-2 in its last 22 games. … Wednesday's win over St. Olaf was UST's 16th straight victory vs. MIAC opponents, dating back to a 62-56 loss to Saint Mary's on Jan. 23, 2013. … In UST's first two games in November, Taylor Young became the 10th Tommie to surpass 1,000 career points and currently stands at 1,111 points in 93 career games). … Maggie Weiers — who missed all of last season with a knee injury — leads three Tommies in double figures, averaging 14.0 ppg, while Young (13.0 ppg) and Kate Stone (10.0 ppg) are the other two. … Stone netted a team-best 19 points — including five 3-pointers — against St. Olaf on Wednesday. … Stone has accounted for 23 of the team's 49 3-pointers through 10 games. … St. Thomas sank 11 shots from 3-point range in last Saturday's 100-46 victory over Carleton. … Along with her team-best 14.0 ppg scoring average, Weiers also leads the team in rebounding with 98 (9.8 rpg). … As a team, the Tommies are scoring at a 71.8 ppg clip, while holding their opponents to just 50.0 ppg. … UST opened the season with three consecutive road games against 2013 NCAA playoff teams — a 77-76 loss to No. 11-ranked Whitman (23-6 last season), a 76-61 win over Whitworth (21-7 last season); and a 48-43 road victory at UW-Stevens Point (24-6 last season). … The Tommies are 81-11 against conference opponents since January 2010. Coach Ruth Sinn's last seven Tommie teams have come up big down the stretch, with a 50-9 record in February games. Over the last five seasons, UST has an overall record of 120-31. … A year ago, St. Thomas won its last seven games of the regular-season and recorded four postseason wins, before losing to Hope in the NCAA Round of 16 to snap an 11-game winning streak.