By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as the Cardinals travel to St. Catherine's Butler Center for a 7 p.m. conference game against the Wildcats.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2-2 MIAC, 7-4 Overall) at St. Catherine Wildcats (1-3 MIAC, 5-6 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—December 30, 2017 * La Crosse, Wis.: Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led three Cardinal players in double figures with 15 points, as Saint Mary's cruised to a 76-65 nonconference win over Viterbo at R.W. Begs Sr. Gymnasium | Recap
• St. Catherine—December 30, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: In their final game of 2017, the Wildcats dispatched of UM-Morris in decisive fashion, defeating the Cougars 63-53 in a nonconference game at Butler Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Catherine—A Year Ago:
• January 7, 2017 * Winona, Minn.: Saint Mary's boasted five players in double figures, led by Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) with 19 points, as the Cardinals picked up their fourth straight win—and snapped the Wildcats' four-game run—beating St. Catherine 80-73 | Recap
• February 11, 2017 * St. Paul, Minn.: Just three days after surrendering 24 points in the game's final 10 minutes in a heartbreaking 69-54 loss to Bethel, the game's final quarter haunted the Cardinals again against St. Catherine. 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
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, as Saint Mary's entertains Saint Benedict in a 3 p.m. conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• St. Catherine: The Wildcats are back on their home court at Butler Center in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday, hosting Bethel in a 3 p.m. conference game.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Schedule | 2017-18 Statistics
• With their 76-65 win over Viterbo last Saturday, the Cardinals enter Wednesday's showdown against St. Catherine having won two straight and three of their last four. … Seven of the Cardinals' 11 games—including four of their seven wins—have been decided by seven points or less. … The Cardinals have scored 60 or more points in 19 of their last 20 wins—the lone exception, a 56-52 win over Macalester on Jan. 4, 2017. … Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) scored a team-high 15 points in the Cardinals' win over Viterbo last Saturday. … Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) chipped in 13 points against the V-Hawks last Saturday, while Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) added 10. … Blattner has now scored 10 or more points in all 11 of Saint Mary's games this season. … Blattner also led the Cardinals with nine rebounds vs. Viterbo last Saturday—missing her seventh double-double of the season by one board. … Blattner—who has recorded 10 or more rebounds 31 times as a Cardinal—has amassed 24 double-doubles in her three-year collegiate career. … Blattner poured in a season-high 27 points in the Cardinals' 69-59 loss to Augsburg on Dec. 2. The 27-point effort was just one shy of her single-game career high—28-point showings against both Bethel and St. Olaf last season. … Along with her 27 points against Augsburg on Dec. 2, Blattner also hauled in a season-high 15 rebounds. … Huisman equaled her season high with a team- and game-high 19 points against St. Olaf on Dec. 12. … Huisman's 19-point effort was one shy of her career best. … Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) scored a game- and career-high 25 points against Bethel on Dec. 9. … With her 25-point effort against Bethel, Winter became the first Cardinal besides Blattner to score 20 or more points this season. … Saint Mary's boasts three players who have recorded single-game career highs of 10 or more points this season—Winter (25), Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis. / 15), and Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn. / 10). … Kedl recorded a career-best 10 rebounds against Augsburg on Dec. 2. She is the second Cardinal freshman to post 10 or more boards in a game this season—Winter recorded an 11-rebound effort in Saint Mary's season-opening win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in their 74-70 win over the University of Dubuque on Nov. 21. … Blattner (17.6 ppg) and Huisman (12.5 ppg) enter Wednesday's conference game against St. Catherine averaging in double figures. … Blattner also leads the team in rebounds with 108 (9.8 rpg). … Saint Mary's boasts seven players—Keefe (27), Blattner (27), Schmeling (20), Winter (14), Huisman (13), Clare Patterson (Marine, Minn. / 13), and Ewelina Schlomann (New Berlin, Wis. / 12)—with 10 or more assists. … Blattner and Keefe hold the team lead in steals with 12 each. … … 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 82 3-pointers through 11 games—with 12 different players knocking down at least one. … Huisman—who equaled her season high with six 3-pointers against St. Olaf on Dec. 12—leads the Cardinals with 34 treys. … Saint Mary's had six different players net a 3-pointer against UM-Morris on Nov. 18. … The Cardinals enter Wednesday's game against St. Catherine averaging 67.6 ppg, while limiting their opponents to a 63.7 ppg scoring average. … 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' 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. Catherine Wildcats:
2017-18 Roster | 2017-18 Statistics | 2017-18 Schedule
• Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's is the third of four straight home games for the Wildcats, who are 2-2 on their home court this season. … The Wildcats, who snapped a season-high three-game losing streak with a 72-67 victory over Macalester on Dec. 13, have won two of their last three games. … Alexis Garcia scored a game-high 21 points in the Wildcats' 63-53 win over UM-Morris last Saturday. … Garcia's 21-point effort—the seventh time this season SCU has had a player score 20 or more points in a game—was a career high. … Meg Clark chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds against UM-Morris last Saturday en route to her first collegiate double-double. … Clark's 11 rebounds vs. the Cougars last Saturday were a career high. … St. Catherine enters Wednesday's game against Saint Mary's boasting two players—Danica Cambrice (17.8 ppg) and Audra Clark (15.8 ppg)—who are averaging in double figures. … Cambrice owns the team's single-game season high, scoring 30 points against Macalester on Dec. 13. Cambrice also owns games of 22 points and 21 points (twice), while Audra Clark (26, 25) and Garcia (21) have also eclipsed the 20-point barrier this season. … Jackie Radford is the team's rebounding leader with 96 boards (8.7 rpg). … SCU has six players with 10 or more assists, led by Audra Clark and Radford with 21 each, two more than Meg Clark. … Cambrice (21) and Radford (19) are the team's steals leaders, while Cambrice also owns a team-high eight blocks. … Meg Clark (7) and Garcia (6) have accounted for 13 of the Wildcats' 29 3-pointers through 11 games. … The Wildcats are shooting 37 percent from the field (239-for-650) and are averaging 61.4 ppg. … St. Catherine scored a season-high 72 points in its 72-67 win over Macalester on Dec. 13.