MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team had fond memories of its last trip to Concordia.
 
After all, the Cardinals snapped an 11-game losing streak on Concordia's Memorial Auditorium court—not to mention an 18-game losing streak against the Cobbers—with a 66-57 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory a year ago.
 
Saturday afternoon, Saint Mary's was back on the Cobbers' home court—unfortunately, the outcome was far less memorable.
 
Concordia scored the game's first basket and never relinquished the lead in handing the Cardinals a 55-41 conference setback.
 
The Cobbers didn't waste any time kicking its offense into high gear, scoring the game's first eight points and 10 of the first 11 to take a 10-1 advantage in the opening three minutes.
 
Unfazed, the Cardinals answered with a 10-0 run of their own to take their only lead of the first half, 11-10, with eight minutes remaining.  Concordia, however, used its second big run of the half—this time a 12-2 burst—to grab a 11-point, 25-14, lead. CC would pushed its leads to as many as 12, 30-18, before settling for a 10-point, 30-20 edge at the intermission.
 
Concordia scored the opening basket of the second half, but the Cardinals rattled off seven unanswered points to get within five, 32-27, with 14:06 remaining in regulation.
 
The Cobbers regained the momentum, widening the gap to a game-high 14, 45-31, on an Allie Fisher 3-pointer that capped a 13-4 run.
 
Octavia Brown (Broadview, Ill.) rattled off three straight baskets and Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) added a bucket of her own, as the Cardinals made one final push with an 8-1 burst that cut the Cobber lead to seven, 48-41, with four minutes to play.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Concordia knocked down 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
Brown and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) led the Cardinal offense, scoring nine points each, while Molly O'Toole (Plymouth, Minn.) chipped in eight points and Pethke added five points, eight rebounds, two assists and three steals.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 31 percent from the field (16-for-52), but were 0-for-14 from behind the 3-point line and turned the ball over 21 times.
 
Alley Fisher netted a game-high 20 points, with Erin Januschka chipping in 13 for the Cobbers, who went 17-for-59 from the field (29 percent), but knocked down 18 of 23 free throws—including 7 of 8 in the waning minutes.
 
The Cardinals (2-2 MIAC, 8-3 overall) are back on the road on Wednesday, heading to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference game against St. Olaf.

Photo Gallery