By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — Nothing came easy for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team Wednesday evening, but the Cardinals found a way to get the job done in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against Carleton.
 
Saint Mary's struggled to find its shooting touch all evening, hitting just 27.7 percent from the field — but a stifling defense and some clutch baskets down the stretch earned the Cardinals a 53-48 victory over the Knights at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Carleton broke the ice with an Anna Hughes 3-pointer to open the scoring, but Saint Mary's answered with back-to-back buckets by Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) to spark an 11-0 Cardinal run — and an 11-3 SMU lead.
 
A lead the Cardinals would not relinquish.
 
Carleton cut the Cardinal lead to three, 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, but Saint Mary's held the Knights off the scoreboard for the first six minutes of the second stanza to push its lead to 13, 25-12.
 
Again Carleton mounted a late rally, netting the quarter's final seven points to get within six, 25-19 at the half.
 
Saint Mary's started quickly in the third quarter, scoring the first seven points for a 32-19 lead — and led 36-26 on a Maggie Robertson (Orland Park, Ill.) field goal — only to have Carleton once again rally late to pull within eight, 39-31 heading into the game's final 10-minute stanza.
 
Saint Mary's used a layup and a 3-pointer to open the quarter to expand the advantage to 13, but Carleton would not go away, clawing to within three on three separate occasions — 46-43, 48-45, and 51-48 — only to have Blattner seal the win with a pair of free throws in the waning seconds.
 
Blattner tossed in a game-high 19 points — going 7-for-18 from the field and 5 of 9 from the free throw line — while also hauling in nine rebounds. Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) also scored in double figures for the Cardinals, finishing with 11 points.
 
Saint Mary's finished the night 18-for-65 from the field — including 4 of 26 from behind the arc — and added a 13 of 19 effort from the free throw line. Annabella Jensen netted 17 points and Cece Leone added 11 for Carleton, which shot 35.3 percent from the field (18-for-51) and converted on just 2 of its 11 3-point attempts.
 
The Cardinals (4-3 MIAC, 8-6 overall) are right back on their home court at the Saint Mary's Gym on Saturday, playing host to Macalester in a 1 p.m. conference matchup.