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WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup with Augsburg already owning a piece of the conference's regular-season title.

Forty minutes later, it was obvious the Cardinals in general — and Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) in particular — were not in a sharing mood.

The Cardinals led by as many as 14 points in the game's opening 20 minutes and held off a furious Augsburg rally in the final minutes, as SMU claimed its first out-right regular-season conference championship since the 1985-86 season with a 70-64 victory at the SMU Gym.

With the win, the conference-champion Cardinals closed out the regular-season 21-2 in conference play and enter next week's conference tournament with a 23-2 overall record — one win shy of the program's record for wins in a season.

The Cardinals, who locked up the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with last Wednesday's 83-63 victory over Hamline, will host the lowest remaining seed after Tuesday's first round of action in next Thursday's MIAC Tournament semifinals at the SMU Gym.

Euerle — playing in her final collegiate regular-season home game — made her presence felt early and often, as the senior opened the game with a block of Augsburg's first field goal attempt by Jenna Orth.

Euerle went on to score 14 of her game-high 22 points points — not to mention nine of her 14 rebounds — in recording her fourth double-double of the season and eighth of her collegiate career.

Saturday's performance was almost a "passing of the torch, as Euerle closed out her regular-season career in stellar fashion, while Miriam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) gave SMU fans a glimpse of the future, as the freshman forward registered 17 points and eight boards to give the Cardinals a potent one-two punch in the paint.

The Cardinals appeared to be in complete control, leading by as many as 13 points in the second half — including a 57-44 advantage with 13 minutes remaining.

Augsburg, however, was determined to make SMU sweat out that elusive conference crown, as the Auggies used a 18-7 run to cut the Cardinal lead to two, 64-62, with 5:30 left in regulation.

The Auggies would again cut the deficit to two, 66-64, but a bucket by Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) and a pair of free throws from Euerle to ice the win.