WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, coming off a 94-63 victory over Bethel in Thursday's MIAC Tournament semifinal, hosts St. Thomas in the MIAC Tournament title game on Saturday — with the winner earning the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Tip is set for 3 p.m. 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.
#1 Saint Mary's 94, #4 Bethel 63 | Recap | MIAC Recap | Box
#3 St. Thomas 71, #2 Concordia 56 | MIAC Recap | Box

Championship: Saturday, Feb. 1 | 3 p.m.
#3 St. Thomas (23-4) at #1 Saint Mary's (24-2)

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

How They Got Here:
#1 Saint Mary's — which locked up the No. 1 seed with a win over Hamline on Feb. 19, then clinched its first MIAC regular-season title since the 1985-86 season with a six-point win over Augsburg three days later — got a game-high 23 points from Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) en route to a 94-63 MIAC semifinal win over Bethel Thursday at the SMU Gym.
#3 St. Thomas, which finished in a second-place tie with Concordia in the conference's regular-season standings — but were relegated to the third seed since Concordia swept the teams' regular-season series — avenged those two-regular-season losses with a convincing 71-56 win over CC Thursday in Moorhead, 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 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

Up Next:
The winner of Saturday's MIAC Tournament championship game receives the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA National Tournament, which begins March 7-8. The loser will have to wait to see if it earns one of the NCAA's at-large berths.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Probable Starters: Bridget Pethke (So., G: 11.0 ppg, 121 assists), Sara Schoenthaler (So., G: 5.3 ppg, 25 3-pointers), Darcey Rice (Sr., G: 8.2 ppg, 53 3-pointers), Shelby Auseth (So., F, 10.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 26 3-pointers), Courtney Euerle (Sr., F, 13.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 52 assists)
This and That: The Cardinals enter Saturday's MIAC Tournament championship game 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 Thursday's win over Bethel, the Cardinals picked up their 24th victory of the season, equaling the school record for wins in a season — originally set during the 1984-85 season (24-2) and matched 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 or more women's basketball conference championships. … The Cardinals are making their first-ever appearance in the MIAC Tournament championship game. … Saturday's game against St. Thomas is the fifth straight home game for the Cardinals, who are a perfect 14-0 at home this season. The Cardinals are 23-1 on their home court over the past two seasons. … SMU boasted a 20-point scorer for the fourth straight game on Thursday, as Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) poured in a game-high 23 points vs. the Royals. Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.), the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week — who sandwiched a pair of career-high 22-point efforts around a 20-point performance in each of SMU's previous three games — netted 15 points against Bethel Thursday. … 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. … Euerle heads into Saturday's game against St. Thomas owning four double-doubles this season and eight in her four-year collegiate career. … With her 15 points Thursday, Euerle has now scored in double figures 19 times this season and 47 times in her fourth years in a Cardinal uniform. … SMU has had a player score 20 or more points in a game nine times this season — highlighted by Pethke's career-high 32-point outburst 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 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 Saturday's MIAC Tournament title game leading the team in both scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). … Pethke and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) are also averaging in double figures, heading into Saturday's game at 11.0 ppg and 10.8 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. … SMU drained a season-high 32 free throws on 39 attempts against Bethel Thursday. … Pethke has dished out a single-season career-high 121 assists through 26 games this season — including a career-best eight in SMU's regular-season finale against Augsburg. … Pethke's 121 assists this season rank No. 7 all-time, two shy of Jessica Thone's 123 assists in 2011-2012. … As a team, SMU owns 156 3-pointers this season — ranking third-most in program history. … SMU has drained a season-high nine 3-pointers in a game three times this season. … Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) has knocked down a team-leading 53 3-pointers, which is the fourth-most in program history and just seven shy of the school record 60, set by Ashley Luehmann in 2004-05. … With their 94-point showing against Bethel Thursday, SMU has scored 90 or more points three times this season — and heads into Saturday's matchup with the Tommies averaging 72.4 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 57.4 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 St. Thomas Tommies:
2013-14 Roster | 2013-14 Statistics | 2013-14 Schedule
Probable Starters: Katie Stone (So., G: 10.6 ppg, 44 assists), Laura Margarit (Jr., G: 3.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg), Kelly Brandenburg (Sr., G: 9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 73 assists), Taylor Young (Sr., F: 13.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 71 assists), Maggie Weiers (Sr., C: 13.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 31 blocks)
This and That: St. Thomas heads into Saturday's matchup with Saint Mary's ranked No. 15 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 and No. 17 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. … With their win over Concordia on Thursday, the Tommies reached the MIAC Tournament title game for the fifth year in a row. … St. Thomas' victory over Concordia Thursday was its 51st postseason win in the program's 37-year history. … Elaine Warner scored a team-high 18 points against Concordia Thursday, marking the sixth straight game in which a different player has led the Tommies in scoring. … Warner did not miss a field goal en route to her team-high 18 points vs. the Cobbers, going 5-for-5 from the field — including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. … St. Thomas is 18-0 vs. conference opponents this season when making four or more 3-point baskets and 72-2 over the past six seasons when scoring 65 or more points. … The Tommies are 95-14 against conference opponents since January 2010. … Over the last six seasons, UST has an overall record of 138-35. … St. Thomas has won 19 or more games in 26 of the last 34 seasons — including 20 or more victories in each of the last five seasons. … St. Thomas has won 13 MIAC regular-season women's basketball championships, matching St. Ben's for the most by a conference institution.  … St. Thomas opened this season with three consecutive games against 2013 NCAA playoff teams, all away from home — a 77-76 loss to No. 11-ranked Whitman (23-6 last season); a 76-61 win over Whitworth (21-7 last season); and a 48-43 road victory at UW-Stevens Point (24-6 last season). … In UST's first two games in November, senior Taylor Young became the 10th Tommie female player to surpass 1,000 career points. … Young, a fourth-team All-American in 2011-12, enters Saturday's title game against Saint Mary's averaging a team-best 13.3 ppg. … Young has played in 109 career games and has 1,340 points, 469 rebounds, 251 assists, 157 steals and 102 blocks. … UST is 98-19 during Young's career. … Injuries sidelined Jenna Dockter for the first 22 games, but the junior has been back in the lineup for the last five games, averaging 12.2 ppg. … Maggie Weiers, who missed last season with an injury, is averaging 13.3 ppg and 8.7 rpg. … Weiers has 81 blocked shots in 88 career games. … Weiers enters Saturday's game with 959 career points. … UST is allowing just 50.6 points-per-game to lead the conference and rank fifth nationally. The Tommies are 90-1 over the last six seasons when they hold opponents under 60 points. They have held 19 of their 26 opponents under 57 points. … The Tommies are 38-2 at home over the last three seasons, including a 12-1 mark last winter and an 11-1 mark this season. They are 50-5 on campus in four seasons since the opening of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex.