DULUTH, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball coach Brent Pollari is learning early on in the season that his Cardinals like to approach each game as a marathon, not a sprint.
 
And if Saturday's outcome is any indication, the second-year head coach is just fine with that approach.
 
The Cardinals trailed 10-0 and 12-2 early in the first quarter, were staring at a four-point, 32-28 deficit at the half, and did not take their first lead until Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) drained a pair of free throws with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Over the game's final 15 minutes, however, the Cardinals displayed their lethal finishing kick, outscoring St. Scholastica 35-22 to seal the 71-57 nonconference win at Reif Gym.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive charge, recording a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double—her second of the season and 11^th of her career—while Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.) also scored in double figures with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
 
After making just 3 of 16 attempts from the field in the first quarter—allowing the Saints to build a 16-9 lead after the opening 10 minutes—the Cardinals hit on 8 of 18 attempts (44 percent) in the second half in cutting the deficit to four, 32-28, at the break.
 
Saint Mary's, despite a 4-for-15 showing, outscored CSS 17-10 in the third quarter—including Keefe's two free throws with five minutes remaining that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 36-35—and iced the win by scoring 26 of the 41 points scored over the game's final 10 minutes.
 
Michala Walther and Sam Brannen finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively, to pace the Saints, who fell to 0-4 with the loss.
 
The Cardinals (4-1 overall) are back on the road on Wednesday, when they travel to Carleton to kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 7 p.m. showdown against the Knights.