ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The similarities were jaw-dropping.
The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Bethel boasting an 8-3 conference mark and a 14-4 overall record.
The same exact same records as the Royals.
Saint Mary's headed into the showdown riding a six-game winning streak.
And so were the Royals.
Fueled by their 8-3 record in MIAC play, the Cardinals were sitting tied for second in the conference standings—with Bethel.
Unfortunately, when the final horn sounded at Robertson Center Saturday, the only difference between the teams' mirror images was the fact that the Royals owned a a pair of conference wins over Saint Mary's—thanks to the Royals' 78-54 MIAC victory.
After trading baskets early on, Bethel—which beat the Cardinals 51-47 earlier this season—grabbed the upper hand, leading 22-13 midway through the game's opening 20 minutes. The Royals pushed their lead to 12 twice late in the half, before
Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) scored from underneath to cut the Cardinal deficit to 10, 40-30, at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Bethel used a 10-2 run to open the frame to grab a 50-32 advantage—and the Royals never looked back, building the lead to as many as 24 en route to their seventh straight victory.
Jones and
Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) each finished with 11 points for the Cardinals, while
Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) added nine. The Cardinals shot 28 percent from the field (19-for-66) and hit just 2 of 18 3-pointers.
Kalli Zimmerman led four BU players in double figures with a game-high 19 points, while Hannah Niewald added 14 points, Rachel Parupsky chipped in a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Sydney Schultz finished with 11 points.
The Cardinals (8-4 MIAC, 14-5 overall) are back on the road on Wednesday, as they head to St. Thomas' Anderson Recreation and Athletic Complex for a 7 p.m. MIAC game against the unbeaten and nationally ranked Tommies