WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team has made a habit of second-half, come-from-behind victories this season.
In fact, in the Cardinals' last game, Saint Mary's used a 25-10 four-quarter run to rally for a 64-51 win over Augsburg last Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minn.
When they took the court Wednesday for their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Carleton, the Cardinals decided to take a different approach—with impressive results.
Saint Mary's scored 35 of the game's first 42 points—including a span of 20 unanswered points—and never looked back in rolling to an 85-47victory over the Knights at the Saint Mary's Gym.
Carleton actually knocked down a 3-pointer to kick off the scoring, but Saint Mary's answered with nine straight points as part of a 15-2 run to grab a 15-5 advantage.
And that was just a sign of things to come.
Leading 15-7 with four minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Saint Mary's rattled off 20 unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the half, 35-7, midway through the second quarter.
Carleton mounted a slight rally to cut the gap to 18, 39-21, but Saint Mary's scored four of the final six points of the half to take a 43-23 lead into the locker room.
As good as they were in the first half, the Cardinals were equally as dominating over the game's final two quarters—outscoring Carleton 22-13 in the third and 20-11 in the fourth in rolling to their eighth straight win of the season.
The Cardinals shot a blistering 52 percent from the field, knocking down 35 of 67 field goal attempts—including five 3-pointers—while adding a 10-for-17 showing from the free throw line.
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, scoring a career-high 22 points—including 14 in the first half—while
Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) also enjoyed a career night, scoring 14 points, while
Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) and
Haley Trom (Hampton, Minn.) each chipped in nine points. Pethke, who collected a career-best 10 assists against Augsburg last Wednesday, dished out eight helpers vs. the Knights.
Maya Okamota scored 11 points and Cece Leone tallied seven rebounds in the losing effort for the Knights (0-4 MIAC, 3-7 overall).
The Cardinals (4-0 MIAC, 8-0 overall)—who have now opened the season 8-0 in back-to-back years—steps out of conference play on Saturday, traveling to Stevens Point, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown with UW-Stevens Point.
