ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team — ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 and No. 17 in the USA TODAY Sports Division III Top 25 — are back on the road Saturday, as the Cardinals head to No. 16 St. Thomas for a battle of league-leaders. Tip is set for 1 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena.

The Matchup:
#18/17 Saint Mary's Cardinals (16-1 MIAC | 19-1 Overall) at #16 St. Thomas Tommies (15-2 MIAC | 17-3 Overall)

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Last Action:
The Cardinals got 14 points from Sara Schoenthaler (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and outscored Carleton 30-20 in the second half in handing the Knights a 56-40 MIAC setback Wednesday evening in Northfield, Minn. … St. Thomas boasted five players in double figures, as the Tommies stayed one game behind SMU for the league lead with a 72-63 conference win over Bethel Wednesday in Arden Hills, Minn.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — Earlier This Year:
January 11, 2014: Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) knocked down a pull-up jumper with six seconds remaining in regulation as the Cardinals held off ninth-ranked St. Thomas 56-54 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown at the SMU Gym.

SMU vs. St. Thomas — A Year Ago:
December 5, 2012: SMU and UST both entered their MIAC showdown boasting unblemished 3-0 conference records. And after the game's opening 20 minutes, neither team had disappointed, as both teams took their turn in the driver's seat, before the Tommies settled for a one-point, 31-30 halftime advantage. Over the final 20 minutes, however, the Cardinals couldn't find their offensive touch — and the Tommies took advantage, using a 21-2 run early in the second half to pull away for a 65-44 win at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
January 23, 2013: The first time SMU and St. Thomas squared off this season, the Cardinals entered riding a season-opening five-game winning streak — only to have the Tommies hand them a streak-snapping, 65-44 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback. The second time they squared off, another streak was snapped. This time, however, it was the Cardinals' 11-game losing streak against the 12th-ranked Tommies, as Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) poured in a game-high 23 points and Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) and Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) combined for 24 point points in leading SMU to a 62-56 victory at the SMU Gym.
February 21, 2013: The last time SMU squared off against St. Thomas, the Cardinals rallied from an early 15-2 deficit to beat the then-nationally ranked Tommies 62-56 at the SMU Gym. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, there would be no second-half, come-from-behind heroics when they squared off in the semifinals of the MIAC Tournament, as St. Thomas used a game-ending 12-4 run to turn a one-point UST lead into a nine-point, 69-60 Tommie victory at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Up Next:
The Cardinals return home on Wednesday, as SMU entertains St. Catherine in a 7:30 p.m. conference game at the SMU Gym. … St. Thomas is also back in action on Wednesday, as the Tommies host St. Olaf in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn.

Where They Stand:
The Cardinals ranked No. 18 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 and No. 17 in the USA TODAY Sports Division III Coaches Poll. The Tommies are also ranked in the two polls this week, coming in at No. 16 in both the D3hoops.com and USA TODAY Sports polls. At 16-1, SMU sits atop the conference standings with five regular-season games remaining — one game up on St. Thomas and two games in front of Concordia. With their win over Macalester last Monday, the Cardinals became the conference's first team to clinch an MIAC tournament berth, while St. Thomas and Concordia each locked up post-season spots with wins on Wednesday.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Saturday's game at St. Thomas is SMU's second straight road game. SMU closes out the regular-season playing three of its final four games on their home court.  … With their 75-52 win over Macalester last Monday, the Cardinals improved to 10-0 on their home court this season. SMU is now 21-1 at home over the past two seasons. … The Cardinals pushed their winning streak to 16 straight with Wednesday's 56-40 win over Carleton — moving the Cardinals within three games of the longest win streak in program history. The 1985-86 Cardinals opened the season 19-0 and went on to win Saint Mary's last MIAC regular-season women's basketball title and qualify for the NCAA national tournament, finishing the season 24-3 overall. … After having 11 different players score in Monday's 75-52 win over Macalester, the Cardinals got scoring from 10 different players in Wednesday's 56-40 victory over Carleton. … Twenty of SMU's 56 points vs. the Knights Wednesday came from the bench. … Sara Schoenthaler (White Bear Lake, Minn.) scored a team-high 14 points against Carleton Wednesday. … For the first time this season, SMU boasted a pair of double-double performers in their Feb. 1 win over Concordia — Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) boasted 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Miriam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) finished with 10 points and 13 boards. … The double-double was the third of the year and seventh of her career for Euerle, while Awoniyi's was the first of her collegiate career. … Awoniyi's 13 rebounds vs. CC were a season- and career-high. …  Euerle — the two-time reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week — has scored in double figures 14 times this season and 42 times in her collegiate career, and enters Saturday's showdown with St. Thomas leading the team in both scoring (12.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). … Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) and Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) are also averaging in double figures heading into Saturday at 11.8 ppg and 10.6 ppg, respectively. … Pethke owns the team's single-game season-high, pouring in a game-, season- and career-high 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. … Pethke's 32 points against St. Olaf marked the fourth time this season SMU has had a player score 20 or more points in a game. Auseth netted 28 points against North Central (Ill.) on Dec. 28, while Euerle enjoyed back-to-back career-high 20-point nights against Gustavus (Jan. 18) and Augsburg (Jan. 20). … The Cardinals have had five or more players score in double figures in the same game four times this season — including six double-figure scorers in its 107-29 win over Crown on Nov. 23. … Pethke, who leads the team with 95 assists, equaled her career-best with seven assists vs. Bethel on Jan. 22. It was the third time this season and seventh time in her collegiate career that Pethke has hit the seven-assist mark. … Pethke's 95 assists this season are a career high. … For the third time this season, SMU drained a season-high nine 3-pointers against Macalester last Monday — with Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) accounting for four of them. … SMU owns 123 3-pointers this season, led by Rice with 37. … SMU — which has scored 80 or more points four times this season — heads into Saturday's showdown at St. Thomas averaging 72.7 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 57.0 ppg. … 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' 85-73 win over CSB on Jan. 25 was SMU's sixth straight victory over the Blazers. … 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
With their win over Bethel on Wednesday, St. Thomas pushed its winning streak to six straight. St. Thomas went 5-0 in December, posted a 7-2 record in January, and has started 3-0 in February. … Coach Ruth Sinn's last eight Tommie teams have come up big down the stretch, with a combined 53-9 record in February games. … UST is 89-13 against conference opponents since January 2010, and, over the last five seasons, the Tommies have an overall record of 130-33. … St. Thomas enters Saturday's showdown with league-leading Saint Mary's boasting a 7-1 record on its home court this season — the Tommies are 46-5 on campus in four seasons since the construction of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex. … In January, two Tommies — Taylor Young and Kelly Brandenburg — surpassed 100 career games played. Young has played 103 games, and has 1,265 points, 424 rebounds and 230 assists while converting 78 percent at the foul line. … Brandenburg, meanwhile, has 48 consecutive starts and has played in 105 career games with 694 points, 346 rebounds, 178 assists, 137 steals. … Young is just the second UST women's player to surpass 1,200 points, 400 rebounds and 200 assists for a career. … The Tommies boast three players who are averaging in double figures this season — Young (14.2 ppg), Maggie Weiers (13.9 ppg) and Katie Stone (10.4 ppg). … Weiers, who missed last season with an injury, is also averaging a team-best 9.4 rpg through UST's first 20 games. … Stone has accounted for nearly half of the Tommies' 100 3-pointers this season, going 45-for-119 from behind the arc. …  St. Thomas is allowing just 49.8 points per game to lead the conference and rank second nationally. … The Tommies are 85-1 over the last six seasons when they hold opponents under 60 points. … UST, which has not lost back-to-back games all season, had its season-high nine-game winning streak snapped with its 56-54 loss to Saint Mary's in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 11. … The Tommies graduated just one player from its 24-6 team of a year ago that won the MIAC playoff title and reached the NCAA round of 16.