By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach David Foley must feel as if he's replaced Bill Murray as the lead actor in a remake of the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day.
 
When the second-year head coach glanced at the clock following Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf, it's a pretty safe be he had a severe case of déjà vu.
 
After all, Saturday's result marked the second straight game — and seventh time this season — that the Cardinals have been involved in a game decided by four points or less.
 
And, unfortunately for the Cardinals and their head coach, the end result did not go in their favor, as St. Olaf held off a furious Saint Mary's rally down the stretch in dealing SMU a 73-71 setback at Skoglund Center.
 
Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) started things off for the Cardinals, draining a 3-pointer for a 3-0 lead. But in a blink of an eye, the Cardinals were staring at a 14-3 deficit, as the Oles rattled off 14 unanswered points as part of a 19-9 run to gave St. Olaf a 29-12 lead after the opening quarter.
 
St. Olaf pushed its lead to 11, 25-14, but Saint Mary's cut the deficit to one, 27-26, only to have Rose Bauernfeind drain a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to give the Oles a 30-26 lead at the break.
 
Vesel opened the second half the way she opened the first, drilling a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one, 30-29 — and kick-start a 13-7 quarter-opening run that gave Saint Mary's a 39-37 lead with 5:10 to go.
 
St. Olaf regained the momentum and pushed its lead to as many as five, 49-44, only to have the Cardinals net the final five points of the third quarter — including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) — to knot the game at 49-49 heading into the final quarter.
 
St. Olaf scored 18 of the first 27 points of the fourth quarter to grab a nine-point, 67-58 lead, but Saint Mary's refused to throw in the towel, cutting the Ole lead to five, 73-68 on a Claire Patterson (Marine, Minn.) 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. St. Olaf missed a pair of free throws, and Paulson drilled another Cardinal trey to make it a two-point game with six seconds on the clock. The Oles again came up empty on two tries at the free throw line, but Saint Mary's last-second heave for the win would not go down.
 
Paulson scored a career-high 27 points for the Cardinals — going 8-for-19 from the field with five 3-pointers, and adding a 6-for-6 showing from the free throw line. Vesel finished with 18 points and Patterson added 11 for the Cardinals.
 
Saint Mary's shot 27.9 percent from the field (19-for-68 with 10 3-pointers, but were a deadly 23-for-28 from the free throw line. St. Olaf, meanwhile, shot 50 percent from the field (29-for-58) with eight 3-pointers, but were just 7 of 19 from the charity stripe.
 
Rachel Kelly netted 21 points, and Cassie Fix and Britta Koenen each scored 14 points for the Oles.
 
The Cardinals (1-11 MIAC, 1-16 overall)  are back on the road on Wednesday, heading to Macalester's Leonard Center in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against the Scots. The Oles (5-7 MIAC, 8-9 overall), meanwhile, return home to Skoglund Center in Northfield, Minn., on Wednesday, playing host to Hamline in a 7 p.m. MIAC showdown.