WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team — coming off its first MIAC regular-season title in 28 years — opens conference tournament play with a 7:30 p.m. home game against fourth-seeded Bethel Thursday at the SMU Gym.

The MIAC Tournament Matchups:
Quarterfinals: Tuesday, Feb. 25
#3 St. Thomas 66, #6 Gustavus 51 | Recap | Box
#4 Bethel 68, #5 St. Olaf 55 | Recap | Box

Quarterfinals: Thursday, Feb. 27 | 7:30 p.m.
#4 Bethel (20-6) at #1 Saint Mary's (23-2) | Winona, Minn.
#3 St. Thomas (22-4) at #2 Concordia (21-4) | Moorhead, Minn.

Championship: Saturday, Feb. 1 | 3 p.m.
Lowest seed remaining at Highest seed remaining

GameDay Live On The Web:
Live Stats * Live Video | Video Preview | GameDay Program | MIAC Tournament Homepage | Interactive Bracket

How They Got Here:
#1 Saint Mary's (23-2 overall, 20-2 MIAC) locked up the No. 1 seed with a win over Hamline last Wednesday, then clinched its first MIAC regular-season title since the 1985-86 season with a six-point win over Augsburg on Saturday. Thanks to the 2013-14 regular-season title, the Cardinals are the No. 1 seed and enjoy home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
#2 Concordia (21-4 overall, 19-3 MIAC) cruised to a win Saturday to claim the tournament's No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. Head Coach Jessica Rahman and her team won big on the road on the season's final day, defeating Hamline in St. Paul 86-64, to wrap up a 21-4 regular season.
#3 St. Thomas (21-4 overall, 19-3 MIAC) also scored a big win on the final day of the season, beating Saint Benedict on the road 69-52 to finish in a second-place tie with the Cobbers. The Tommies, however, were relegated to the third seed since Concordia swept the teams' regular-season series.
#4 Bethel outlasted #5 St. Olaf 62-55 in an exciting game on the Royals' home court in the teams' final game of the regular and the same two teams squared off again on the same floor in Tuesday's tournament quarterfinals. Bethel (19-6 overall, 17-5 MIAC) earned the No. 5 seed, while St. Olaf (12-10 MIAC) entered the tournament seeded fifth.
#6 Gustavus (14-11 overall, 11-11 MIAC) also won its way into the field with an impressive performance Saturday, defeating St. Catherine on the road 82-54 to grab the sixth and final seed in the MIAC Playoffs. The Gusties - now 14-11 overall and 11-11 in conference play - needed either a win or a Saint Benedict loss to punch their postseason ticket, and ended up getting both.

SMU vs. Remaining MIAC Tournament Field — Earlier This Year:
Vs. Concordia:
January 4, 2014: SMU erased a four-point, halftime deficit, built its lead to as many as 12 in the second half, and held off a late Cobber rally to collect a key, 66-57 conference win in Moorhead, Minn. The win put an end to an 18-game losing streak vs. the Cobbers — including an 11-game slide at Memorial Auditorium | Recap
February 1, 2014:  Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) and Miriam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) each posted double-doubles, while Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) and Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) also scored in double figures, as the Cardinals held off the Cobbers 72-69 at the SMU Gym to complete their season sweep of Concordia | Recap
Vs. St. Thomas:
January 11, 2014: Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) knocked down a pull-up jumper with six seconds remaining in regulation as the Cardinals held off St. Thomas 56-54 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown at the SMU Gym | Recap
February 8, 2014: St. Thomas snapped the Cardinals' 16-game winning streak, building leads as big as 20 points in the first half — and SMU could not recover — as the Tommies cruised to a 65-48 conference victory at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
Vs. Bethel:
December 4, 2014: The Cardinals could not dig out of an 11-point halftime hole, as Bethel handed SMU a 78-69 conference setback at Robertson Center | Recap
January 22, 2014: Led by Courtney Euerle's (Litchfield, Minn.) double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, the Cardinals raced out to an 11-point first-half advantage and never looked back in handing Bethel a 71-54 MIAC setback at the SMU Gym | Recap

Previewing Tonight's SMU-BU Tournament Semifinal:
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Probable Starters: Bridget Pethke (So., G: 10.5 ppg, 117 assists), Sara Schoenthaler (So., G: 5.4 ppg, 25 3-pointers), Darcey Rice (Sr., G: 8.0 ppg, 50 3-pointers), Shelby Auseth (So., F, 10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 26 3-pointers), Courtney Euerle (Sr., F, 13.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 52 assists)
This and That: The Cardinals enter MIAC Tournament ranked No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, while coming in at No. 17 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25. … With their 23-2 overall record, the Cardinals are just one win shy of tying the school-record for wins in a season — originally set during the 1984-85 season (24-2) and equaled a year later in 1985-86 (24-3). … The Cardinals' regular-season conference title is the third in program history — putting them in an elite group of just five teams who have won three of more conference championships. … The Cardinals are making their third straight appearance in the MIAC Tournament semifinals. … SMU finished the regular season a perfect 13-0 at home — the Cardinals are 23-1 on their home court over the past two seasons. … Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) scored a career-high 22 points in back-to-back Saturday's — netting 22 against Gustavus on Feb. 15, and matching that mark a week later against Augsburg. … After not scoring more than 17 points in her first three seasons as a Cardinal, Euerle has eclipsed the 20-point mark five times this season — including each of her last three games. … Along with her 22 points, Euerle also added a career-best 14 rebounds in last Saturday's regular-season finale against Augsburg en route to her fourth double-double of the season — and eighth of her career. … Euerle, who has led the team in scoring in each of its last four games, has now scored in double figures 18 times this season and 46 times in her fourth years in a Cardinal uniform. … SMU has had a player score 20 or more points in a game eight times this season. Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) recorded SMU's single-game season-high, tossing in a career-best 32 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 29. … Pethke's 32-point performance — 17 points better than her previous career-high of 15 set against Saint Benedict on Jan. 25 — was SMU's highest single-game performance since before the 1999-2000 season, and was just 10 points shy of the school record 42 points, set by Mary Schultz against St. Olaf during the 1985-86 season, and equaled by Tricia Rasmussen against UW-Oshkosh in 1992-93. … SMU has had five or more players score in double figures in the same game five times this season — including six double-figure scorers in its 107-29 win over Crown on Nov. 23. … Euerle enters Thursday's MIAC Tournament opener leading the team in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.6 rpg). … Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) and Pethke are also averaging in double figures, heading into Thursday's game at 10.9 ppg and 10.5 ppg, respectively. … SMU boasted a pair of double-double performers in their Feb. 1 win over Concordia — Euerle recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Miriam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) finished with 10 points and 13 boards. … The double-double was the first of Awoniyi's collegiate career. … Awoniyi's 13 rebounds vs. CC were also a career-high. … Pethke had dished out a single-season career-high 117 assists through 24 games this season — including a career-best eight in SMU's regular-season finale against Augsburg. … Pethke's 117 assists this season rank No. 7 all-time, six shy of Jessica Thone's 123 assists in 2011-2012. … As a team, SMU owns 150 3-pointers this season — ranking fourth-most in program history. … SMU has drained a season-high nine 3-pointers in a game three times this season. … Rice has knocked down a team-leading 50 3-pointers, which is tied for the fourth-most in program history. … SMU has scored 80 or more points five times this season — and heads into post-season play averaging 71.6 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 57.2 ppg. … SMU's 69-62 win over Gustavus on Feb. 15 was the Cardinals' only overtime game of the season. … The Cardinals have played just one OT game in each of their last three seasons. … SMU's 65-48 loss to St. Thomas on Feb. 8 snapped the Cardinals' 16-game winning streak — a run that was just three games short of the longest win streak in program history. … SMU's 72-69 win over Concordia on Feb. 1 — coupled with its 66-57 win over the Cobbers in their first meeting on Jan. 4 — marked the first since the 1984-85 season that the Cardinals have swept their regular-season series against Concordia. … SMU's first win vs. the Cobbers on Jan. 4 snapped an 18-game losing streak against the Cobbers dating back to a 71-58 win on Feb. 15, 2004. It was also SMU's first win at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium since the Cardinals recorded a 58-46 win on Jan. 20, 2003. … The Cardinals broke a pair of long-standing school records with their 107-29 victory over Crown on Nov. 23. The Cardinals' 107 points were a school record — breaking the previous high of 106 set in a 106-30 win over Carleton on Feb. 19, 1986. SMU's 78-point margin of victory was also a new school record, two points better than the old mark of 76, also set during that Feb. 19, 1986 win over Carleton.

Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Probable Starters: Lexi Friesen (So., G: 6.1 ppg, 20 3-pointers), Hannah Niewald (So., G: 8.2 ppg, 53 assists), Kalli Zimmerman (Fr., F: 14.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Lindy Parker (Jr., C: 2.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Rachel Parupsky (So., C: 14.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg )
This and That: The Royals, who earned a spot opposite Saint Mary's with a xx-xx victory over St. Olaf in one of Tuesday's MIAC quarterfinals, finished the regular-season with 17 MIAC wins — the most since notching 17 during the 1995-96 season, when they finished second in the conference standings. … BU's 17 victories in league play this season were 12 more than a season ago, which is believed to be an NCAA record for biggest turnaround in a conference season. Two other teams in the nation have had a larger turnaround overall, but have only had an 11-game turnaround in league play from one year to the next. Bethel's turnaround this season is the most by any team this season. … Bethel, which won 11 of its first 13 games and is currently riding a six-game winning streak, is making its third playoff appearance in the last four years — something the Royals have done just one other time since the mid 1990's (2009, 2011, 2012). … With their quarterfinal victory against St. Olaf Tuesday, Bethel collected its 20th win of the season — meaning all four MIAC Tournament semifinalists have recorded at least 20 wins this season. … Bethel's victory Tuesday night was its second post-season win since 1986. … Rachel Parupsky and Kalli Zimmerman enter Thursday's showdown with top-seeded Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 14.4 ppg, while Parupsky is also the team-leader in rebounds with 233 (9.0 rpg). … Parupsky and Zimmerman have led the team in scoring in 18 of its 26 games. … Zimmerman has accounted for Bethel's top two single-game individual performances — netting a season-best 29 points against Gustavus on Feb. 12, while netting 25 against Augsburg three days later. … Zimmerman and Hannah Niewald share the team lead in assists with 53 each, while Zimmerman has also racked up a team-best 60 steals. … The Royals have drained 119 3-pointers — including a season high 10 against St. Olaf Tuesday. … Katelyn Vavra (40), Sydney Schultz and Lexi Friesen (20) have accounted for 92 of the Royals' 119 treys. … As a team, the Royals have eclipsed the 80-point barrier twice, including a season-high 101-point effort in a 101-53 season-opening win over Bethany Lutheran on Nov. 20. … The Royals closed out the home portion of their schedule with a 12-1 record — the lone loss at Robertson Center was a 73-62 setback vs. St. Thomas on Feb. 5. Bethel enters Thursday's matchup with Saint Mary's 8-5 on the road.