WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team has followed a simple philosophy all season: Only focus on the game at hand—and once that game is over, put it behind you and focus on the next one.
The Cardinals won't have any problem putting Wednesday's rematch against Augsburg behind them—they will want to forget that one as quickly as possible.
Augsburg outscored Saint Mary's 26-13 in the second quarter in building a 18-point, 46-28 halftime advantage—and the Auggies never took their foot off the accelerator, handing the Cardinals just their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss of the season, 82-70, at the Saint Mary's Gym.
In a see-saw first quarter that boasted ties and eight lead changes, the Auggies had the last laugh, scoring the final five points—including a 3-pointer by Maria Loughlin at the buzzer—to take a five-point, 20-15 advantage.
And fueled by a 12-0 run early in the second quarter, Augsburg continued to have the upper hand, pushing its lead to as many as 19, 41-22, before settling for an 18-point, 46-28 lead at the intermission.
Staring at their biggest halftime deficit of the season, the Cardinals could not seem to find a way to cut into the Auggies' advantage—and were still trailing by 18, 64-46, when the third quarter came to a close.
Fueled by the hot hand of
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.), the Cardinals used a 13-3 run late in the quarter to whittle the lead down to 10, 76-66. But it wasn't enough, as Augsburg scored six of the game's final 10 points to ice the win.
Blattner—the reigning MIAC Athlete of the Week—was held to just four points and four rebounds in the game's opening 20 minutes. In the second half, however, the Cardinal freshman was virtually unstoppable, scoring 20 points and hauling in eight boards to finish with her eighth double-double of the season—a 24-point, 12-rebound effort.
Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, scoring 10 points, while adding eight assists and three steals.
The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field (24-for-60), but struggled from behind the 3-point line, knocking down just 7 of 25 attempts. Augsburg, meanwhile, went 29-for-54 from the field (54 percent) and poured in 8 of 13 3-point attempts.
Maria Loughlin scored 22 points to lead four Augsburg players in double figures. Allison McKee chipped in 14 points, and Jessica Lillquist and Bridget Bednar added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals (9-2 MIAC, 15-3 overall), who slipped into a tie with St. Thomas atop the conference standings—one game in front of Concordia, Gustavus, and Saint Benedict.
