CHICAGO, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team returns to the court after the holiday break on Tuesday, traveling to North Park for a 2 p.m. nonconference game against the Vikings.
 
The Matchup:
No. 21/22 Saint Mary's Cardinals (8-1 Overall) at North Park Vikings (7-3 Overall), 2 p.m.
 
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National Rankings:
• Saint Mary's, which suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Bethel 51-47 on Dec. 8 is ranked No. 21 in the latest USA Today Sports Coaches Poll, released Tuesday, while holding down the No. 22 spot in the D3hoops.com Top 25.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals have been off since Dec. 8, when Bethel held a 29-21 second-half scoring advantage, including scoring the game's final five points, in handing Saint Mary's a 51-47 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym—and snapping their eight-game season-opening winning streak | Recap
• North Park: Annie Shain scored a team-high 11 points, but it was not nearly enough, as Austin College handed the Vikings a 59-54 overtime setback on Dec. 21 in Sherman, Texas | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. North Park—Their Last Meeting:
• November 20, 1987: The Cardinals and Vikings have not met for 27 years—North Park handed Saint Mary's a 77-73 in that meeting in Chicago, Ill.
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. showdown with Concordia.
• North Park: The Vikings are back on their home court on Saturday, hosting Milikin in a 5 p.m. CCIW contest in Chicago, Ill.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
The Cardinals' 51-47 loss to Bethel on Dec. 8 snapped their season-opening eight-game winning streak—their longest such streak since opening the 1985-86 season by rattling off 19 straight wins. … Saint Mary's loss to Bethel marked the second straight season the Royals have handed the Cardinals their first conference loss of the season—BU won 78-69 in the teams' first meeting a year ago. … The Cardinals' 51-47 loss to Bethel snapped their 17-game regular-season home winning streak—dating back to a 64-54 loss to Concordia on Feb. 3, 2013. … The Cardinals are now 27-3 at home over the past three seasons. … Molly O'Toole (Plymouth, Minn.) scored a team-high 18 points against Bethel on Dec. 8. It was the fourth straight game and seventh time in nine contests that the Cardinal freshman has netted 10 or more points. … O'Toole recorded a career-high 23 points in Saint Mary's win over Hamline on Dec. 3—marking the second time she has eclipsed the 20-point barrier. O'Toole netted a then-career-high 21 points vs. UW-Stout on Nov. 21. … Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) recorded her first collegiate double-double against Hamline on Dec. 3, scoring 15 points and adding a career-best 11 rebounds. The junior guard also dished out a career high eight assists. … Pethke's 11-rebound performance vs. Hamline was the second time this season a Cardinal player has recorded 10 or more rebounds in a game—Kayla Lardy (Fairmont, Minn.) hauled in a career-best 10 boards against Crown on Nov. 22. … The Cardinals boasted four players in double figures in their win over Hamline on Dec. 3. It was the third time in nine games Saint Mary's has put four players in double figures in the same game. … The Cardinals have five players who have recorded single-game career-highs of 10 points or more this season—O'Toole (23), Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn. / 14), Natalie Larson (North Branch, Minn. / 14), Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn. / 12), and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn. / 11). … Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.)—who owns a season-best 24-point effort against UM-Morris on Nov. 16—heads into Tuesday's nonconference contest against North Park owning a team-leading 12.8 ppg scoring average. … O'Toole (12.4 ppg) and Pethke (10.0 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Pethke owns the team lead in rebounds (57, 6.3 rpg) and assists (54). … Pethke finished with a single-season career-high 128 assists last season, which ranks No. 3 all-time. … Saint Mary's has knocked down a season-high 11 3-pointers twice this season. … As a team, the Cardinals have drained 57 3-pointers this season—led by Schaefer with 17. … The Cardinals have outscored their first nine opponents 312-200 in the game's opening 20 minutes. … The Cardinals have held eight of their nine opponents to less than 30 first-half points. … Saint Mary's—which scored a season-high 80 points against Hamline on Dec. 3—has not trailed at halftime in any of its first nine 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 North Park Vikings:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2014-15 Statistics
Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back home games for the Vikings, who are 3-1 on their home court this season. … The Vikings' overtime loss to Austin was their second straight setback, having also fallen to Trinity (Texas) two days earlier. … North Park's back-to-back losses to Trinity and Austin have been by identical 59-54 scores. … North Park rattled off wins in seven of its first eight games this season. … Liz Rehberger enters Tuesday's game against the Cardinals averaging a team-leading 14.9 ppg scoring average, with Nikki Przbyslawski second at 9.6 ppg. … Rehberger has led the team in scoring in six of their 10 games, including a season-high 21-point effort against Aurora on Nov. 26. … Rehberger is also the Vikings' rebounding leader with 47, one more than Nicole Kruckman and three better than Soly Roman. … Annie Shain and Rehberger have accounted for 36 of the team's 45 3-pointers—Shain has hit on 22 of 53 3-point attempts, while Rehberger has drained 14 of 60 from behind the arc. … As a team, the Vikings are averaging 72.2 ppg and have netted 80 or more points three times—including 92-point wins over Saint Mary's College and Blackburn. … Tuesday's game against Saint Mary's is North Park's second game against a Saint Mary's team this season—the Vikings beat Saint Mary's College (Ind.) 92-68 on Nov. 18.