By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — After managing just 36 points in falling to unbeaten UW-Oshkosh on Thursday, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-opener against Carleton with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.
 
Which did not bode well for the host Knights.
 
Saint Mary's put three players in double figures — including a 20-point effort from Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) and a career-high 19 points from Maggie Robertson (Orland Park, Ill.) — and cruised to a 78-57 conference win over the Knights at West Gym.
 
The Cardinals were all business at the start, scoring the game's first five points, but Carleton responded with six unanswered points and led 14-13 late in the opening quarter. A Robertson layup in the waning seconds, however, gave the Cardinals a 15-14 advantage.
 
An advantage they would not relinquish.
 
Saint Mary's built its lead to as many as 13 in the second quarter — thanks in part to a pair of 3-pointers by Caily Landers (Palos Heights, Ill.) — and took a 37-29 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
It was more of the same in the second half, as Saint Mary's continued to pull away from the Knights, pushing its lead to 14, 59-44 after three quarters, and outscored Carleton 19-13 over the game's final 10 minutes for the 21-point win.
 
Paulson's 20-point effort, which included a 4-for-9 showing from behind the arc, marked the second time this season the freshman has reaching the 20-point barrier. Robertson, meanwhile, added a career-best 11 rebounds to her 19 points for her first collegiate double-double. Jada Biermeier (Eau Claire, Wis.) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, scoring 10 points.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 36 percent from the field (20-for-80), hit seven 3-pointers and were 13 of 20 from the free throw line. Carleton, meanwhile, hit on 34 percent of its field goals (21-for-61) with two 3-pointers and were just 13 of 22 from the line.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 4-2 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, as they return home to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 5 p.m. conference showdown against Concordia.