By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team is back on the road on Sunday, as the Cardinals travel to UW-Eau Claire for a 3 p.m. nonconference showdown with the Blugolds.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-1 Overall) at UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (3-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 21, 2017 * Dubuque, Iowa: The Cardinals used big runs to end the first, second, and fourth quarters to deal host University of Dubuque a 74-70 nonconference setback at Stolz Sports Center | Recap
• UW-Eau Claire—November 21, 2017 * De Pere, Wis.: The Blugolds outscored host St. Norbert 4-2 in the five-minute overtime, as UW-Eau Claire won its third straight with a 50-48 victory over the Green Knights | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-Eau Claire—A Year Ago:
• December 11, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's made it look easy as 1-2-3 Sunday afternoon in its nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire. 1: Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.) scored a game-high 18 points, hauled in seven rebounds, dished out six assists and added three steals. 2: Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) poured in 16 points and had three rebounds. 3: Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) delivered a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds—her second straight and fifth of the season—and chipped in three assists and three steals. And with that trio leading the way, the Cardinals put an end to their season-high two-game losing streak, cruising to a 65-49 win over the Blugolds at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return home on Wednesday, as Saint Mary's entertains St. Scholastica in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• UW-Eau Claire: The Blugolds take to the road on Wednesday, heading to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Saint Benedict.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2016-17 Final Statistics
• Sunday's game against UW-Eau Claire is the fourth straight road game for the Cardinals. … Saint Mary's 74-70 win over the University of Dubuque last Tuesday was its second straight victory—and third win in four games this season. … With last Tuesday's 74-70 win over the University of Dubuque, two of the Cardinals' three wins have been decided by four points or less. … Saint Mary's one-point victory over Martin Luther on Nov. 15 was its second one-point win in the last two years—with both being decided by a 61-60 final score. The Cardinals dropped Carleton 61-60 in overtime last season. … The Cardinals have now scored 60 or more points in 15 of their last 16 wins—the lone exception, a 56-52 win over Macalester on Jan. 4. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in last Tuesday's win over the University of Dubuque. Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) led the way with 13 points, while Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Savannah Bleess (Kenyon, Minn.) each added 12, and Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) and Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) both chipped in 10. … Huisman has now led the team in scoring in back-to-back games. … Bleess' 12 points and Kedl's 10 were both career highs. The duo are two of four Cardinals to have posted single-game career-highs of 10 points or more—Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis. / 15) and Abby Winter (Winona, Minn. / 11) are the other two. … Winter also recorded a career-best 11 rebounds in her first collegiate game against Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … Along with her 12 points vs. the University of Dubuque last Tuesday, Blattner also hauled in a team-best 12 rebounds for her third double double of the season, the fifth in her last seven games, and the 21^st of her collegiate career. … Blattner scored a game- and season-high 22 points in the Cardinals' season-opening win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … Blattner's 22 points vs. the Knights on Nov. 15 were just six shy of her career high. The Cardinal junior netted a career-high 28 points twice last season—vs. Bethel on Dec. 7 and St. Olaf on Feb. 4. … Blattner has now hauled in 10 or more rebounds 15 times over the last two seasons. … Blattner (14.8 ppg) and Huisman (12.0 ppg) enter Sunday's nonconference game at UW-Eau Claire averaging in double figures. … Blattner has hauled in a team-best 41 rebounds (10.3 rpg). … Schmeling owns a team-leading 12 assists, two more than Keefe, while Keefe and Blattner share the team lead with seven steals each. … The Cardinals, who finished with 141 3-pointers a year ago—including a season-high 11 against St. Catherine on Jan. 7—knocked down a season-best 13 treys against UM-Morris on Nov. 18. … The Cardinals' 13 3-pointers vs. UM-Morris last Saturday are the most since raining in 14 against St. Catherine on Jan. 22, 2005. … Saint Mary's has drained 34 3-pointers through four games—with 10 different players knocking down at least one. … Huisman led the Cardinals with 10 3-pointers. … Saint Mary's had six different players net a 3-pointer against UM-Morris last Saturday. … The Cardinals' 81-point effort against UM-Morris last Saturday was a season-high, and the most since scoring 81 in an 81-79 win over Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. The last time Saint Mary's scored more than 81 points was during the 2015-16 season, when the Cardinals scored 85 in beating St. Olaf 85-56 on Feb. 13, 2016. … With their 61-60 win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of their last six seasons, dating back to a 63-58 loss to Elmhurst on Nov. 22, 2011. … The Cardinals won 11 of their first 15 games last season—achieving such a feat for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
 
Scouting The UW-Eau Claire Blugolds:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Sunday's game against Saint Mary's is the second of back-to-back home games for the Blugolds, who play four of their first five contests on their home court. … The Blugolds' showdown vs. Saint Mary's is the first of two straight games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UWEC faces Saint Benedict Wednesday. … With their 50-48 overtime win over St. Norbert last Tuesday, the Blugolds pushed their season-opening winning streak to three. … Anna Graaskamp scored a game-high 18 points and Hallee Hoeppner chipped in 11 and a team-high six rebounds in UWEC's win over St. Norbert last Tuesday. … Graaskamp and Hoeppner both enter Sunday's game against Saint Mary's averaging in double figures at 18.7 ppg and 11.7 ppg, respectively. … Graaskamp is also the Blugolds' rebounding leading, hauling in 6.0 rpg. … Maddie Dunathan and Jenni LaCroix share the team lead with 10 assists each, one more than Kelsey Bakken and Brooke Harris. … As a team, the Blugolds have knocked down 20 3-pointers through three games, led by Hoeppner with five, and LaCroix and Kayla Hanley with four each. … The Blugolds are averaging 73.7 ppg, while limiting their first three opponents to just a 56.0 ppg scoring average. … UW-Eau Claire put five players in double figures en route to a season-high 100-point effort in routing the University of Dubuque 100-65 on Nov. 18. … Last Tuesday's victory over St. Norbert was Blugold head coach Tonja Englund's 300^th career coaching win.