By
EMILY LOOF
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team began its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic matchup against St. Olaf Tuesday just like the weather outside—cold.
That ice-cold shooting touch, however, heated up in the second half—thanks to
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and
Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.).
The game's first three quarters ended in one-point leads—16-15 Saint Mary's after one, 29-28 St. Olaf at the half, and 43-42 Saint Mary's after three—setting up a dramatic finish.
Blattner and Huisman, who had just six points between them in the first half, combined for an impressive 26 second-half points, carrying the Cardinals past the Oles, 61-55, at the Saint Mary's Gym.
Both teams were lukewarm from the floor to start, trading leads throughout the opening quarter.
Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) first put the Cardinals on the board with a 3-pointer nearly four minutes into play. By the end of the first 10-minutes period, the Cardinals led 16-15—going just 6-for-17 from the floor, while the Oles went 6-for-11.
The tug-of-war continued into the second quarter, with the two teams finding themselves deadlocked on three different occasions. The Oles shot a clean 50 percent from the field in the second frame, going 5-for-10 and knocking down 2 out of 3 three-point attempts, while the Cardinals were a rocky 4-for-15 from the field—and 1-for-6 from outside the arc—as St. Olaf took its one-point, 29-28 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
The floodgates began to crack open when play resumed for the second half, as the Oles used a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead, 40-34, with 3:08 remaining.
The Cardinals kept their heads above water by knocking down five of their nine 3-point attempts—four of which came off the hands of Huisman—the 43-42 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
The game was, of course, setting up for a close finish—and close it was, as the two teams were deadlocked at 48-48 midway through the quarter.
Setting the stage for Blattner and Huisman to work their late-game magic.
Blattner started the charge by making four straight free throws, putting the Cardinals ahead for good, 52-48. Huisman, meanwhile, stayed hot from behind the arc, knocking down another two 3-pointers and draining a free throw to help ice the win.
Huisman finished with a team- and game-high 19 points—on shy of her career best—while Blattner picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Oles were paced by Britta Koenen and Allyson Fuller, who scored 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals (2-2 MIAC, 6-4 overall) take a brief break for the holidays, before returning to action on Dec. 30, when they step out of conference play for a 2 p.m. matchup against Viterbo in La Crosse, Wis.
