By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — It took a little longer than they had hoped, but the Saint Mary's University women's basketball finally picked up their first win of the season.
 
And it was anything but easy.
 
The Cardinals got a clutch 3-pointer from Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) in the waning seconds to force overtime, and then outscored Macalester 11-9 in the extra session en route to a 70-68 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory Wednesday at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals struggled to find their shooting touch early, falling behind by as many as 10 in the first quarter and were staring at a 17-10 deficit through the game's opening 10 minutes.
 
Saint Mary's outscored the Scots 20-13 in the second quarter — including ending the period on a 7-2 run — to pull even, 30-30 at the break.
 
The Scots once again had the upper hand in the third quarter, pushing their lead to a game-high 11, 47-36, with 2:30 to play in the stanza. A pair of free throws by Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) and a basket by Ewelina Schlomann (New Berlin, Wis.) closed the gap to six, 47-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Trailing by six, 57-51, the Cardinals made one final push, scoring eight of the quarter's final 10 points — including Paulson's 3-pointer from the left corner with 19 seconds remaining to pull Saint Mary's even. Saint Mary's smothering defense kept Macalester from getting off a final shot — and the Cardinals were headed to overtime for the second time in their last three games.
 
This time around, however, the ending proved to be much more favorable.
 
Vesel opened the scoring in the five-minute overtime, knocking down a jumper from the lane to give Saint Mary's a 61-59 lead — their first since holding a 4-3 advantage early in the first quarter.
 
Macalester answered, pulling even 63-63 on a pair of free throws by Justine Barraza, but a free throw from Schlomann and a field goal by Vesel gave the Cardinals a three-point, 66-63 cushion with 54 seconds on the clock. Barraza cut the SMU lead to one, 66-65, but Vesel and Paulson each nailed a pair of free throws to seal the Cardinal victory.
 
Schlomann finished with a team-high 15 points, while Paulson chipped in 14 and Vesel finished with 12. The Cardinals shot 38.2 percent from the field (25-for-68) with three 3-pointers, while going 14-for-22 from the free throw line.
 
Luci Swift scored 14 points to lead four players in double figures for the Scots, who went 24-for-61 from the field (39.3 percent) with five 3-pointers and finished 15-for-22 from the charity stripe.
 
The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 1-5 overall)  are now off until Dec. 20, when they head to Waverly, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference showdown against nationally ranked Wartburg. The Scots (0-5 MIAC, 1-9 overall) do not play again until Jan. 4, when they head to Northfield, Minn., for a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup against Carleton.