ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — If the first three games of the regular-season are any indication, Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) is in for quite a senior season with the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota basketball team.
 
Jones kicked off her final year in a Cardinal uniform by equaling her career high with 16 points in Saint Mary's season-opening 76-64 nonconference win over the University of Dubuque last Tuesday.
 
Five days later, Jones was at it again—and then some—scoring a career-best 21 points in leading the Cardinals to a 65-57 nonconference victory over Martin Luther during the second day of the Saint Benedict Quinlivan & Hughes Tip-Off Tournament.
 
Saint Mary's scored the game's first four points and never trailed against Martin Luther—yet, no matter how hard they tried, the Cardinals could not shake the pesky Knights.
 
The Cardinals, who struggled to get out of the gates in falling to UW-Stout 64-54 on Saturday, knocked down their first two field goal attempts—both by Jones—and raced to a 16-11 lead after the game's opening quarter.
 
Saint Mary's pushed its lead to 10 twice in the second quarter, but a 9-2 MLC run cut the gap to three, 29-26, with 2:38 remaining in the half. The Cardinals would use a 9-2 run of their own to close the half, taking a 36-28 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
And the third quarter proved to be eerily similar to the first two, as Saint Mary's again built a double-digit lead on a pair of occasions, only to have Martin Luther keep the Cardinals within striking distance at 53-44 heading into the final quarter.
 
Martin Luther scored nine of the first 14 points to open the fourth quarter, whittling the Cardinal lead to five, 58-53, with just over two minutes remaining. That, however would be as close as the Knights would get, as Saint Mary's ended the game on a 7-4 burst to seal the win.
 
Along with Jones' game-high 21 points, the Cardinals also got 13 points and 11 rebounds from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.)—the sophomore's first double-double of the season, after recording nine a year ago—and 10 points from Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.).
 
Saint Mary's shot 39 percent from the field (22-for-56), but managed just 3 of 17 3-point attempts. The Cardinals also drained 18 of 24 free throws and held a 43-33 advantage on the boards.
 
Martin Luther, which was led by Mariah Schoopf's 21 points, shot 31 percent from the field (17-for-55—including knocking down seven 3-pointers—while going 16 of 22 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) return home to the Saint Mary's Gym on Tuesday, entertaining Viterbo in a 7 p.m. nonconfereance contest.