By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — It took 40 minutes — and a pair of overtime periods — to determine a winner when the Saint Mary's University and St. Catherine women's basketball teams met the first time around on Dec. 4.
 
There would be no need for overtime in the teams' rematch Wednesday evening.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the end result would be another heartbreaking, two-point loss to the Wildcats.
 
St. Catherine — which beat Saint Mary's 79-77 in that first meeting — scored 15 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter, then held off a furious Cardinal rally down the stretch in dealing SMU a 55-53 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at Butler Center.
 
The Wildcats did a number on the Cardinals' top two leading scorers over the game's opening 20 minutes, holding both Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) and Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) scoreless.
 
Which forced the rest of the Cardinals to step up and carry the offensive load — and step up they did.
 
The Cardinals got back-to-back 3-pointers from Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) and Maggie Robertson (Orland Park, Ill.) to close the first quarter, erasing a one-point St. Catherine lead and giving the Cardinals a five-point, 13-8 advantage heading into the second quarter.
 
St. Catherine whittled Saint Mary's lead to one twice in the second quarter, but the Cardinals would not relinquish their lead, getting a Hallie Schmeling (Onalaska, Wis.) field goal in the waning seconds to give SMU a 22-19 lead heading into the locker room at the break.
 
The Wildcats opened the third quarter with five unanswered points to take a 24-23 lead, but Saint Mary's responded, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to grab an eight-point, 34-26 lead. SCU cut the lead back to one, 34-33, but again the Cardinals had an answer, getting back-to-back baskets from Vesel and Clare Patterson (Marine, Minn.) to take a five-point, 38-33 edge into the game's final 10 minutes.
 
St. Catherine held the Cardinals without a point for nearly seven minutes to open the fourth quarter — while the Wildcats poured in 15 points — to give SCU a 48-38 lead. Patterson broke the drought to kick-start a 7-0 Cardinal run that trimmed the Wildcat lead to three, 48-45, with 2:16 on the clock.
 
Trailing by seven with 16 seconds remaining, Saint Mary's made one final push, sandwiching a pair of Streveler 3-pointers around a free throw by SCU's Cierra Ahlf — but the last-ditch effort left the Cardinals two points short.
 
Streveler finished with a career-high 11 points — going 4-for-7 from the field with three 3-pointers — to pace the Cardinals, while Schmeling chipped in eight points and Robertson added seven.
 
St. Catherine's Danica Cambrice led all scorers, netting 18 points on 8 of 15 shooting.
 
The Cardinals (1-10 MIAC, 1-15 overall) are back on the road for a third straight time this week on Saturday, heading to St. Olaf's Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference showdown with the Oles. The Wildcats (5-6 MIAC, 8-8 overall), meanwhile, head across town on Saturday, making the trek to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena for a 3 p.m. matchup against the nationally ranked Tommies.