WINONA, Minn. — It appeared like the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team was going to be able to put it in cruise control after racing out to a 26-7 first-half lead in it nonconference game against UW-Stout Friday evening.
 
The Blue Devils, however, had other ideas, clawing back to within five late in the second half.
 
Fortunately for coach Mandy Pearson, the Cardinals had more than enough gas left in the tank—and put the pedal to the metal, outscoring UW-Stout 12-3 over those final three minutes to push their season-opening winning streak to four in a row.
 
The Cardinals—playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season—scored 12 of the game's first 14 points and held the Blue Devils without a field goal for more than eight minutes in the first half, en route to a 20-point, 35-15 halftime advantage.
 
The Blue Devils' offense came to life in the second half, as UW-Stout slowing chipped away at the Saint Mary's lead, getting to within 56-51, before the Cardinals burned rubber and pulled away down the stretch to ice the win.
 
Molly O'Toole (Plymouth, Minn.) broke the 20-point barrier for the first time in her career, netting a game- and career-high 21 points, while Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) chipped in 19, as the Cardinal duo combined for 40 of the team's 68 points.
 
Saint Mary's shot 45 percent from the field (25-for-55) and added a 15-for-23 effort from the free throw line. UW-Stout, meanwhile, hit on just 17 percent of its first-half field goal attempts (4-for-24), before rebounding with a 10-for-23 (43 percent) effort over the game's final 20 minutes.
 
Katie Nickles and Becca Smith finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the losing effort for UW-Stout (1-3 overall).
 
The Cardinals (4-0 overall) are right back in action on Saturday, traveling to St. Bonifacius, Minn., for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against Crown