LA CROSSE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team—riding a season-opening five-game winning streak—closes out a six-game nonconference stretch on Tuesday, heading to UW-La Crosse for a 5:30 p.m. showdown against the Eagles in Mitchell Hall.
 
The Matchup:
No. 23/24 Saint Mary's Cardinals (5-0 Overall) at UW-La Crosse Eagles (3-2 Overall)

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National Rankings:
• The Cardinal open the 2014-15 campaign ranked in a pair of national preseason polls. The Cardinals are ranked No. 23 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, while coming in at No. 24 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Preseason Poll | D3hoops.com | USA Today
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals scored the game's first nine points and never took their foot off the accelerator, cruising to a 73-38 nonconference win over Crown in St. Bonifacius, Minn., Saturday | Recap
• UW-La Crosse: Carthage raced out to a 32-18 halftime advantage, and the Eagles never recovered, as UW-La Crosse dropped a 62-41 decision in Kenosha, Wis., Saturday | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse—Their Last Meeting:
• November 16, 2013: While Mother Nature was busy soaking Winona with a November shower, Saint Mary's was soaking visiting UW-La Crosse with a barrage of 3-pointers. The Cardinals knocked down three straight 3-pointers to open the game and never looked back in routing the Eagles 88-55 in the teams' season-opening nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until Dec. 3, when they kick off their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 7 p.m. game against Hamline at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles return to the court on Sunday, hosting Carroll in a 3 p.m. nonconference game at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse, Wis.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Tuesday's game is the last of six straight nonconference games for the Cardinals. … Five of Saint Mary's first six games have been on the road—the lone home contest was a 68-54 victory over UW-Stout last Friday. … With that win over the Blue Devils, the Cardinals improved to 26-2 on their home court over the past three seasons. Saint Mary's only home losses since the start of the 2012-13 season have been a 64-54 setback to Concordia on Feb. 3, 2013 and a 71-58 decision to St. Thomas in the MIAC Tournament title game a year ago. … The Cardinals enter Tuesday's game vs. UW-La Crosse riding a five-game winning streak. Saint Mary's has won three or more games to open the year in each of their last three seasons. Saint Mary's won its first three games a year ago, while putting together a season-opening five-game winning streak during the 2012-13 season. … The Cardinals are looking to go 6-0 for the first time since opening the 1985-86 season by rattling off 19 straight wins. … Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) scored 11 points and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) added 10 against Crown Saturday. … Meredith's 11-point effort was a career high. … Kayla Lardy (Fairmont, Minn.) hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds vs. the Storm Saturday—it was the first time this season a Cardinal player has recorded 10 or more rebounds in a game. … Saint Mary's has boasted four players scoring in double figures in two of its five games this season. … Auseth, who has scored in double figures in four of the team's five games—including a season-best 24-point effort against UM-Morris on Nov. 16—heads into Tuesday's game against UW-La Crosse boasting a team-leading 15.0 ppg scoring average. … Schaefer is also averaging in double figures at 10.0 ppg, while Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) owns the team lead in rebounds (31) and assists (27). … Pethke finished with a single-season career-high 128 assists last season—including a career-best eight in Saint Mary's regular-season finale against Augsburg. … Pethke's 128 assists a year ago ranked No. 3 all-time. … Saint Mary's knocked down 11 3-pointers against UW-Eau Claire last Tuesday—getting at least one trey from six different players. … Schaefer leads the team with 12 3-pointers. … The Cardinals have outscored their first five opponents 178-113 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … The Cardinals have not allowed a team to score more than 29 points in the first half this season, while holding their last two opponents—UW-Eau Claire and Crown—to 15 and 16 first-half points, respectively. … Saint Mary's has not trailed at halftime in any of its first five games. … The Cardinals made their first NCAA national tournament appearance since the 1985-86 season a year ago, falling to UW-Oshkosh 71-61 in the regional semifinal.
 
Scouting The UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
After opening the season with back-to-back wins, the Eagles are 1-2 in their last three games, sandwiching a two-point win over North Park between losses to the University of Dubuque and Carthage. … UW-La Crosse is unbeaten (2-0) on its home court this season. … The Eagles failed to record a player in double figures against Carthage Saturday, with Sam Connolly leading UW-L with eight points. … Rachel Atchison enters Tuesday's game vs. Saint Mary's boasting a team-best 12.4 ppg scoring average. … Atchison netted a season-best 29 points against North Park last Friday. … The Eagles boast three players with 20 or more rebounds through five games, led by MaKenzie Miller with 28 and Maggi Bishop with 27. … Atchison has accounted for 11 of the team's 23 3-pointers this season. … UW-La Crosse has outscored its opponents 144-134 in the first half, but have been outscored 163-160 in the game's final 20 minutes.