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WINONA, Minn. — It took the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team to get its offense warmed up, but once they did, St. Catherine did not stand a chance.

It didn't hurt that the Cardinals' always-tenacious defense was at its best from start to finish.

SMU rebounded from a 25-point first-half performance, scoring 45 points over the game's final 20 minutes, and forced the Wildcats into 28 turnovers, as the Cardinals cruised to a 66-36 win over St. Catherine Wednesday at the SMU Gym.

The Cardinals could not shake the Wildcats in the opening 20 minutes, as SCU held SMU to just seven points over the game's opening 10 minutes and led on five separate occasions, including 19-18 with 2:30 remaining.

Over those final two-plus minutes, however, it was all SMU, as the Cardinals rattled off seven unanswered points to turn that one-point deficit into a six-point, 25-19, halftime advantage.

But while the SMU offense struggled to find its first-half rhythm, the Cardinal defense was its smothering self, forcing St Catherine into 14 turnovers in the game's first 20 minutes.

SMU shot just 30 percent in the first half, making 9 of 30 field goals — including a 3-for-10 effort from behind the 3-point line — while adding a 4-for-8 showing from the free throw line.

That all changed in the second half, as SMU opened by scoring the first five points to cap a 12-0 run, and, after an SCU 3-pointer, added a 10-0 run to push its lead to 40-22.

And that was just the beginning, as the Cardinals surrendered a Wildcat basket, before rattling off 14 unanswered points for a 54-24 cushion — and the rout was on.

Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) scored a team-high 11 points, while Bridget Pethke (New London, Minn.) and Octavia Brown (Broadview, Ill.) each added 10 for the Cardinals, who improved 20-2 overall — marking the second straight season SMU has reached the 20-win plateau.

With the win, the Cardinals remain tied with 16th-ranked St. Thomas for the top spot in the MIAC standings at 17-2, as the two continue to battle for the conference's regular-season crown — and the all-important No. 1 seed in the post-season tournament.

SMU is back in action on Saturday, as the Cardinals hit the road, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC contest against Gustavus.