ST. PAUL, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team squared off against Macalester in the teams' first meeting of the season on Dec. 5, the Cardinals let the Scots hang around for the game's first half—holding just a 36-30 advantage on their way to a 67-52 victory.
 
Saturday afternoon, the two teams met again—and this time, the Scots didn't have a chance.
 
After being held to just six points and 10 rebounds in that initial meeting in early December, Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) feasted on the Scots' defense, pouring in a game-high 26 points—one shy of her career high—while adding 12 rebounds in guiding the Cardinals to an 81-56 rout at Leonard Center.
 
The Cardinals scored the game's first five points, but Macalester answered with a 14-7 run to grab a 14-12 lead with 2:37 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
Over those final two-and-a-half minutes, the Cardinals outscored Macalester 8-1—and the Scots never recovered.
 
Saint Mary's erupted for 24 second-quarter points to take a 44-27 lead into the locker room at halftime—and it was more of the same in the second half, as the Cardinals used a 20-12 third quarter to build their lead to an insurmountable 25 points, 64-39.
 
Along with Blattner's 26-point, 12-rebound effort—her seventh double-double of the season, and the 10^th time this season she has hauled in 10 or more boards—the Cardinals also got 12 points from McKenzie Sommers (Arlington, Minn.) and 11 from Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.).
 
Saint Mary's shot 40 percent from the field, knocking down 30 of 75 field goal attempts—including nine 3-pointers—while also going 12-for-17 from the free throw line.
 
Macalester—which got 13 points from Erin Murray and nine from Leah Gray, shot 35 percent from the field (20-for-58), but were just 2 of 18 from behind the 3-point line and went 14-for-22 from the line.
 
The Cardinals (9-1 MIAC, 15-2 overall)—who maintained their one-game lead over St. Thomas atop the conference standings—return to action on Wednesday, hosting Augsburg in a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.