ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, heading to Bethel's Robertson Center for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Royals.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7 MIAC, 13-8 Overall) at Bethel Royals (12-2 MIAC, 17-4 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 4, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) equaled her career high with 28 points—including 16 in the second half—but it wasn't enough, as St. Olaf used a late 10-2 run to slip past the Cardinals 60-57 at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Bethel—February 4, 2017 * Arden Hills, Minn.: The Royals pushed their winning streak to seven, getting 24 points and 12 rebounds from Hannah Johnson in beating Saint Benedict 75-65 at Robertson Center Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—Earlier This Year:
• December 7, 2016 * Winona, Minn.: Despite a Herculean effort by Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.)—who scored a game- and career-high 28 points—the Cardinals could not keep pace with the Royals down the stretch, as Bethel handed Saint Mary's a 69-56 setback | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel—A Year Ago:
• February 10, 2016 * Arden Hills, Minn.: Saint Mary's coach Brent Pollari knew his Cardinals were going to be in for a knock-down, drag-out battle when they took the court against Bethel. How right he was. Unfortunately for the first-year head coach, when the final horn sounded, it was the Royals who were still standing, as Bethel survived Saint Mary's fourth-quarter haymakers in handing the Cardinals a 77-74 conference setback at Robertson Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road on Saturday, heading to Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. matchup against St. Catherine.
• Bethel: The Royals take to the road for the final time this regular season on Saturday, heading to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Auggies.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Bethel is the first of back-to-back road games for the Cardinals, who are in the midst of playing eight of 10 contests away from the Saint Mary's Gym. … 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 this season have come during two, five-game winning streaks. … With their 64 points in their 64-48 win at Hamline last Wednesday, 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 has been held under 60 points in all eight of its losses this season—including last Saturday's 60-57 setback against St. Olaf. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) equaled her career high, scoring 28 points in the Cardinals' 60-57 loss to St. Olaf last Saturday. 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 18 of the team's 21 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 Sam Jones (White Bear Lake, Minn.) finished with 21 against the University of Dubuque on Nov. 15. … Blattner picked up her team-leading eighth double-double of the season—and 16^th of her collegiate career—with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Hamline last Wednesday. … Blattner has recorded 10 or more rebounds nine times this season—including a season 17-rebound effort against Carleton on Nov. 30. … Blattner's 17 rebounds against Carleton were just two shy of her school-record 19-rebound performance against UW-Eau Claire on Dec. 29, 2015. … 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 (10 times), Huisman (5 times), Schaefer (4 times), Jones (3 times), Keefe, and Brigette Audette (Big Lake, Minn.). … Blattner heads into the Cardinals' conference showdown with Bethel Wednesday averaging a team-best 15.0 ppg. Emma Schaefer (10.6 ppg) and Jones (10.6 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Blattner owns a team-leading 194 rebounds (9.2 rpg). … The Cardinals have drained 124 treys in 21 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 39 3-pointers—including a season- and career-high five against both Concordia on Jan. 21 and St. Olaf last Saturday. … 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, who dished out a career-high 12 assists against Concordia in the teams' first meeting on Dec. 3, leads the team with 103 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 61.8 ppg, while limiting its opponents to a 59.5 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 61-60 win over Carleton in the teams' first meeting 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. … Saint Mary's—picked to finish third in the MIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll—made its fifth straight MIAC Playoff appearance last season—and the Cardinals have reached at least the semifinals each time.
 
Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2016-17 Roster | 2016-17 Statistics | 2016-17 Schedule
• Beginning with Wednesday against Saint Mary's, the Royals play three of their final four regular-season games at home—the lone exception, Saturday's 1 p.m. clash at Augsburg. … With last Saturday's 75-65 win over Saint Benedict, Bethel improved to 7-1 on its home court. The Royals are 10-3 away from Robertson Center Gym this season. … The Royals head into Wednesday's showdown against Saint Mary's riding a seven-game winning streak. BU's seven-game run is one win shy of their season-high eight-game winning streak. … After opening the season 1-2, BU has gone 16-3 in its last 19 games—the lone losses coming against ninth-ranked UW-Oshkosh (54-46), league-leading St. Thomas (71-62), and 24^th-ranked Gustavus (62-58). … The Royals boasted three players scoring in double figures in their 75-65 win over Saint Benedict last Saturday, led by Hannah Johnson with 24 points. Taite Anderson and Jasmin Bretoi chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. … Johnson also hauled in 12 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games—the sophomore posted 14 points and 10 boards against Carleton on Feb. 1. … Bethel posted a season-high five players in double figures in its 92-61 win over Carleton on Feb. 1. … Kalli Zimmerman owns a team-leading 15.2 ppg scoring average. Zimmerman is one of four Royals entering Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's averaging in double figures—Anderson (12.7 ppg), Abby Miller (10.6 ppg), and Johnson (10.5 ppg) are the others. … Johnson's 24 points against Saint Benedict last Saturday were a single-game team high, while Anderson has chipped in a pair of 23-point efforts. … BU has two players who have hauled in 100 or more rebounds this season—Johnson (184, 8.8 rpg) and Anderson (161, 7.7 rpg). … Angie Kirchoff has dished out a team-leading 42 assists, one more than Shanni Moorse and three in front of Anderson. … Anderson is the team-leader in steals with 32, while Johnson has amassed a whopping 63 blocks. … As a team, Bethel is shooting 46 percent from the field (542-for-1175) and has netted 142 3-pointers. … The Royals have five players who have knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers, led by Bretoi (48) and Miller (32). … Bethel has played one overtime game this season, beating 12^th-ranked UW-River Falls 89-85.