WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals entertain second-ranked St. Thomas in a 7 p.m. matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-9 MIAC, 13-10 Overall) vs. #2 St. Thomas Tommies (16-0 MIAC, 23-0 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | GameDay Program
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 11, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: Leading by eight, 42-34, after three quarters, the Cardinals were outscored 21-10 in the fourth—including a game-ending, 7-0 run that erased a four-point Saint Mary's lead and lifted St. Catherine to a 55-52 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Butler Center | Recap
• St. Thomas—February 11, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: St. Thomas jumped out to an early 25-8 lead after the first quarter and never looked back on its way to a 91-51 conference win over Carleton at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—Earlier This Year:
• January 18, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: St. Thomas raced out to a 20-7 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to the Tommies 77-57 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Thomas—A Year Ago:
• January 16, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: St. Thomas knocked down eight 3-pointers in the first half—including six in the first quarter—and held off a furious Cardinal fourth-quarter comeback in handing Saint Mary's its first conference loss of the season, 76-67, at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• February 20, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: There was good news, and there was bad news, for Saint Mary's following the Cardinals' MIAC matchup with St. Thomas. The good news: With the regular-season behind them, the Cardinals will turn their focus to the post-season—a first-round bye and a home-court game in the MIAC Playoff semifinals. The bad news: The Cardinals will be heading into the post-season on the heels of an 89-65 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to regular-season champion and eighth-ranked St. Thomas at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
• February 27, 2016 * St. Paul, Minn.: The Tommies—getting a game-high 23 points from Katie Stone—used a commanding third quarter to take a 31-point advantage, and held off a 31-point Saint Mary's fourth-quarter outburst in handing the Cardinals a 77-65 setback in the MIAC Playoff title game at Schoenecker Arena | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Saturday, hosting Saint Benedict in a 1 p.m. conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• St. Thomas: The Tommies close out regular-season play on the road on Saturday, as St. Thomas heads to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. matchup against the Cobbers.
 
MIAC Playoff Picture:
• With two games remaining in the regular season, five of the MIAC's six post-season tickets have been punched—St. Thomas (16-0), Gustavus (15-1), Bethel (14-3), Saint Benedict (9-7), and St. Catherine (9-7) have all locked up playoff berths. The Cardinals need one win—or a loss by both Augsburg and Carleton—to lock up their sixth straight MIAC Playoff berth. Saint Mary's is currently 7-9 in conference play—with games against St. Thomas and Saint Benedict remaining, while the Auggies and Knights are sitting at 6-10. Augsburg has games remaining against Macalester (4-12) and St. Olaf (3-13), while Carleton still plays St. Olaf (3-13) and Gustavus (15-1).
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• After playing eight of their last 10 games on the road, the Cardinals close out the regular season with back-to-back home games against St. Thomas and Saint Benedict. … The Cardinals own a 7-4 record at home this season and are 52-9 on their home court over the past five seasons. … Ten of the Cardinals' 13 wins have come during two, five-game winning streaks. … With their 64 points in their 64-48 win at Hamline on Feb. 1, the Cardinals have now scored 60 or more points in 12 of their 13 wins—the lone exception, a 56-52 win over Macalester on Jan. 4. … Saint Mary's was limited to 52 points in its 55-52 loss to St. Catherine last Saturday and has now been held under 60 points in all 10 of its losses this season. … Two of the Cardinals' last three losses have been by three points—60-57 vs. St. Olaf on Feb. 4, and 55-52 vs. St. Catherine last Saturday. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) scored 18 points and hauled in 14 rebounds against St. Catherine last Saturday. It was her ninth double-double of the season and 17^th of her collegiate career. … Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) also scored in double figures against the Wildcats last Saturday, netting 11 points. … Blattner has now hauled in 10 or more rebounds in back-to-back games and 11 times this season. … Blattner's 16 rebounds against Bethel on Feb. 8 were one shy of her season high—a 17-rebound effort against Carleton on Nov. 30—and just three shy of her school-record 19-rebound performance against UW-Eau Claire on Dec. 29, 2015. … Blattner equaled her career high, scoring 28 points in the Cardinals' 60-57 loss to St. Olaf on Feb. 4. Blattner also netted 28 points against Bethel in the teams' first meeting on Dec. 7. … Blattner's 28-point efforts are the highest single-game performance since Shelby Auseth recorded 28 points and Bridget Pethke scored 32 during the 2013-14 season. … Blattner has scored 10 or more points in 19 of the team's 23 games—including four games of 20 or more points. … Blattner is one of three Cardinals who have posted career-high games of 20 or more points this season. Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) netted a career-best 20 points in both of the Cardinals' meetings against Concordia this season, while Jones finished with 21 against the University of Dubuque on Nov. 15. … Jones scored 14 points and hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds against Concordia on Jan. 21 en route to her first collegiate double-double. … Blattner and Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) each recorded double-doubles against Carleton on Nov. 30—Blattner scored 23 points and added 17 rebounds, while Keefe chipped in 10 points and 11 boards. It was Keefe's first collegiate double-double. … The Cardinals have had six different players lead or share the team lead in scoring this season—Blattner (11 times), Huisman (6 times), Schaefer (4 times), Jones (3 times), Keefe, and Brigette Audette (Big Lake, Minn.). … Blattner heads into the Cardinals' conference showdown with St. Thomas Wednesday averaging a team-best 14.7 ppg. Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn. / 10.3 ppg) and Jones (10.2 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Blattner owns a team-leading 224 rebounds (9.7 rpg). … Blattner is just nine rebounds shy of her career-high 233 rebounds, recorded a year ago. … The Cardinals have drained 131 3-pointers in 22 games this season—including a season-high 11 against St. Catherine on Jan. 7. … The Cardinals' 11 3-pointers were the most since knocking down 12 against St. Olaf on Feb. 13, 2016. … Huisman leads the team with 43 3-pointers—including a season- and career-high five against both Concordia on Jan. 21 and St. Olaf on Feb. 4. … Six Cardinals own 10 or more 3-pointers and 10 of the 13 players on the Saint Mary's roster have drained at least one 3-pointer this season. … Schaefer, recorded a career-high 12 assists against Concordia in the teams' first meeting on Dec. 3, leads the team with a career-best 108 helpers this season. … Schaefer's 12-assist effort against Concordia was the highest single-game effort since Jamie Rattunde dished out 12 against Coe on Nov. 26, 2003. … Saint Mary's has put five players in double figures twice this season, having achieved the feat against both the University of Dubuque and St. Catherine. Saint Mary's had five players score in double figures just once a year ago. … The Cardinals had 10 players score two or more points in their 66-40 win over Viterbo on Nov. 22. … Saint Mary's finished with 59 rebounds against Lawrence on Dec. 30, two shy of its school-record 61-rebound effort against Carleton on Nov. 30. … Saint Mary's is averaging 61.0 ppg, while limiting its opponents to a 59.7 ppg scoring average. … The Cardinals posted back-to-back games of 80 or more points earlier this season—scoring 80 in an 80-73 win over St. Catherine on Jan. 7, and netting a season-high 81 in a 81-79 victory over Augsburg on Jan. 11. Saint Mary's eclipsed the 80-point plateau five times last year, including a season-high 88-point showing against Crown on Nov. 21, 2015. … Saint Mary's 69-54 loss to Bethel on Feb. 8 marked the second time in as many meetings that the Royals scored 24 fourth-quarter points—and 69 points overall points—in beating the Cardinals. … Saint Mary's 61-60 win over Carleton on Nov. 30 was its first overtime game of the season—and first since a 79-73 win over Concordia on Feb. 7, 2015. … Saint Mary's has now won its last four overtime games. The last Cardinal loss in OT was against Concordia on Jan. 29, 2012, falling 60-59. … The Cardinals won at least 11 of their first 15 games for the fourth time in their last five seasons. … With their 76-64 win over the University of Dubuque on Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of the last four seasons—dating back to a 63-58 loss to Elmhurst to kick off the 2011-12 season.
 
Scouting The St. Thomas Tommies:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• The Tommies enter Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's ranked No. 2 in the latest D3hoops.com Poll. … Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back road games for the Tommies to close out the regular season. UST heads to Concordia for its regular-season finale on Saturday. … With their convincing, 91-51 rout of Carleton last Saturday, the Tommies pushed their winning streak to 23 straight. … St. Thomas' win over Carleton was also its 16^th straight regular-season victory on its home court—the Tommies' last loss at Schoenecker Arena was an 80-60 loss to Bethel on Jan. 9, 2016. … St. Thomas' loss to Bethel on Jan. 9, 2016 was also the last time the Tommies have lost to an MIAC opponent—a span of 30 straight victories. … Kaitlin Langer scored a game-high 21 points to lead five Tommies in double figures against Carleton last Saturday. Gabby Zeher (14), Lucia Reinkoff (13), Hannah Spaulding (13), and Lauren Fischer (10) also netted 10 or more points vs. the Knights. … Langer has now scored in double figures in all 23 games for the Tommies—including 12 games of 20 or more points. … Langer has scored a season-high 32 points twice. … Langer enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging a team- and conference-best 19.4 ppg. … Zehrer is also averaging in double figures at 12.0 ppg. … Langer is also the team's rebounding leader with 189 (8.2 rpg), while also owning team highs in assists (47), steals (21), and blocked shots (28). … St. Thomas has drained 160 3-pointers this season, led by Fischer and Zehrer with 42 and 41, respectively. … St. Thomas knocked down 11 3-pointers against Carleton last Saturday, falling one trey shy of its season-high. The Tommies delivered 12 3-pointers against both UW-La Crosse and McDaniel. … The Tommies' 91 points in last Saturday's 91-51 win over Carleton were a season high­—and the fifth time this season they have scored 80 or more points in a game.