By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team steps out of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain St. Scholastica in a 7 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-2 Overall) vs. St. Scholastica Saints (3-1 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—November 26, 2017 * Eau Claire, Wis.: The Cardinals got 22 points and 10 rebounds from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.), and 18 points from Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.), but it was not enough, as UW-Eau Claire scored the game's first 10 points and never relinquished the lead in dealing Saint Mary's a 71-57 nonconference setback | Recap
• St. Scholastica—November 24-25, 2017 * Colorado Springs, Colo.: The Saints picked up a pair of wins at the Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic, knocking off host Colorado College 61-58, before dropping Sul Ross State 65-53 | CC Recap * SRL Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Scholastica—A Year Ago:
• November 26, 2016 * Duluth, Minn.: 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 | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 3 p.m. matchup against the Auggies.
• St. Scholastica: The Saints are now off until next Wednesday, when they traveling to Superior, Wis., for a 7:30 p.m. UMAC showdown against UW-Superior.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• Last Sunday's game against UW-Eau Claire was the fourth straight road game for the Cardinals. … Saint Mary's 71-57 loss to UW-Eau Claire last Sunday snapped the Cardinals' two game winning streak. … Wednesday's game against St. Scholastica is the sixth straight nonconference game for the Cardinals. … Two of Saint Mary's three wins this season have been decided by four points or less—61-60 over Martin Luther on Nov. 15 and 74-70 over the University of Dubuque on Nov. 21. … 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. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) equaled her single-game season high with 22 points against UW-Eau Claire last Sunday. The Cardinal junior also netted 22 points in Saint Mary's season-opening win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … Along with her 22 points vs. UW-Eau Claire last Sunday, Blattner also hauled in a team-best 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, the sixth in her last eight games, and the 22^nd of her collegiate career. … Blattner's 22 points vs. Martin Luther and UW-Eau Claire 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 16 times over the last two seasons. … Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) chipped in 18 points against UW-Eau Claire last Sunday, as she and Blattner teamed to score 40 of the Cardinals' 57 points. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in their 74-70 win over the University of Dubuque on Nov. 21—including career-highs of 12 points from Savannah Bleess (Kenyon, Minn.) and 10 points from Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.). … Bleess and Kedl are two of four Cardinals to have posted single-game career-highs of 10 points or more this season—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. … Blattner (16.2 ppg) and Huisman (13.5 ppg) enter Wednesday's nonconference game against St. Scholastica averaging in double figures. … Blattner has hauled in a team-best 51 rebounds (10.2 rpg). … Schmeling and Blattner own a team-leading 12 assists, one more than Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.), while Blattner is the team leader in steals with eight. … The Cardinals, who finished with 141 3-pointers a year ago, knocked down a season-best 13 treys against UM-Morris on Nov. 18. … The Cardinals' 13 3-pointers vs. UM-Morris on Nov. 18 are the most since raining in 14 against St. Catherine on Jan. 22, 2005. … Saint Mary's has drained 40 3-pointers through five games—with 10 different players knocking down at least one. … Huisman led the Cardinals with 15 3-pointers. … Saint Mary's had six different players net a 3-pointer against UM-Morris on Nov. 18. … The Cardinals' 81-point effort against UM-Morris on Nov. 18 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.
 
Scouting The St. Scholastica Saints:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the fourth of five straight road games for the Saints. … St. Scholastica has won back-to-back games and three of its first four—the lone loss, a 70-63 setback to Augsburg on Nov. 21. … The Saints' 3-1 start is their first since opening the 2002-03 season with three wins in their first four games. … Saint Mary's is the third of five games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. CSS has already played St. Olaf (W, 69-63) and Augsburg (L, 70-63), and still has Saint Mary's, Saint Benedict, and Concordia on its schedule. … St. Scholastica's 65-53 win over Sul Ross State was the first game this season not decided by seven points or less. … Michala Walther scored a team-high 11 points in the Saints' 61-58 win over Colorado College last Friday, while Zoe Bystrom scored a career-high 16 points coming off the bench in last Saturday's win over Sul Ross State. … Rashonna Thomas and Walther head into Wednesday's nonconference game at Saint Mary's averaging in double figures—Thomas at 13.0 ppg and Walther at 11.0 ppg. … The Saints have had four different players lead them in scoring through four games—Thomas, Bystrom, Walther, and Holly VanKempen. … VanKempen is the team's rebounding leader with 26 (6.5 rpg), five more than Walther (21, 5.3 rpg). … Danielle Cieluch and Emelia Miner share the team lead with 11 assists each, two more than both Walther and VanKempen. … Walther also owns the team lead in steals with 12. … The Saints are shooting 38 percent from the field (95-for-251), and have knocked down 22 3-pointers, led by Thomas with nine. … St. Scholastica is averaging 64.5 ppg, while holding its opponents to a 61.0 ppg scoring average. … CSS scored a season-high 69 points in their season-opening 69-63 win over St. Olaf.