ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — If the remainder of the 2017-18 season goes the same way the first two games have, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball coach Brent Pollari is going to be suffering from some premature aging.
 
Two days after escaping with a one-point, 61-60 nonconference win over Martin Luther in their season opener, the Cardinals found themselves in another nailbiter Friday evening during the opening day of the Saint Benedict Quinlivan & Hughes Tip-Off Tournament.
 
Unfortunately for Pollari, this time around, the end result did not go in the Cardinals' favor.
 
UW-La Crosse held off the hard-charging Cardinals down the stretch, dealing Saint Mary's a 67-59 setback at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
The Cardinals, who owned their biggest lead of the first half, 13-9, with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter, held a 14-13 lead on free throw by Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) less than two minutes into the second quarter, only to have UW-La Crosse close out the half on a 14-6 run—including scoring half's final four points—to take a 27-20 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
 
Saint Mary's whittled the lead down to four, 31-27, early  in the third quarter, but again the Eagles had an answer, pushing their lead to 13, 45-32 on a 3-pointer by Taylor Nelson, before settling for a 48-37 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
And it was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as UW-La Crosse bent, and bent—and bent some more—but would not relinquish the lead to the Cardinals.
 
Saint Mary's used a 7-2, half-opening run to cut the deficit to eight, 50-42, and, after an Eagle 3-pointer made it an 11-point UW-L lead, 53-42, the Cardinals got to work, cutting the deficit to four on three separate occasions, but but Saint Mary's could get no closer in falling for the first time this season.
 
Winter, playing in just her second collegiate game, scored 11 points and added eight rebounds, while Blattner—coming off a 22-point, 11-rebound effort against Martin Luther Wednesday—equaled that effort with 11 points and eight boards of her own.
 
The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field (20-for-50) and knocked down 7 of 22 3-pointers, while UW-La Crosse finished 34 percent from the field (22-for-64) with eight 3-pointers, and was a near-perfect 14-for-17 from the free throw line.
 
Taylor Nelson led the way for UW-La Crosse, scoring a game-high 16 points, with Sydney Kannel and Elise DeNoyer each chipping in 12.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 overall) are right back at Claire Lynch Hall on Saturday, squaring off against UM-Morris at 1 p.m. in the second day of the Saint Benedict Quinlivan & Hughes Tip-Off Tournament.