By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Finally.
 
After managing a good quarter here and a good quarter there, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team put it all together Wednesday evening in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch with Macalester.
 
And this time around, the Cardinals didn't need overtime to dispatch of the Scots.
 
The Cardinals — who beat the Scots 70-68 in overtime in their first meeting — got 26 points from Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) and outscored Macalester 36-19 in the first half in rolling to a 77-57 conference victory at Leonard Center.
 
After surrendering the game's opening five points, the Cardinals kicked their offense into high gear, outscoring Macalester 20-6 the rest of the way in grabbing a nine-point, 20-11 lead after the game's opening 10 minutes.
 
And it was more of the same in the second quarter, as Saint Mary's outscored Macalester 16-8 in that 10-minute span to take its biggest lead of the half, 36-19, into the locker room at the intermission.
 
Saint Mary's scored the first 10 points of the third quarter in expanding its lead to 27, 46-19, and the Scots would never recover. The Cardinals led by 17, 58-41, heading into the game's final 10 minutes and outscored the Scots 19-16 to seal the victory.
 
Along with Vesel, who went 11-for-21 from the field and hit 4 of 5 free throws en route to her 26-point effort, the Cardinals also got 14 points from Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.). Saint Mary's — which got scoring from 10 of the 12 players who saw action — shot 45.8 percent from the field (27-for-59) and knocked down 6 of 15 3-pointers, while adding a 17-for-20 effort from the free throw line.
 
Macalester had three players score in double figures — Celine Sabbagh (13), Holly Hull (12), and Luci Swift (10), but the Scots shot just 34.9 percent from the field (22-for-63) and hit just 7 of 28 3-point attempts.
 
The Cardinals (2-11 MIAC, 2-16 overall) are once again back on the road on Saturday, heading to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium for a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Cobbers. The Scots (0-13 MIAC, 1-17 overall) take to the road on Saturday, traveling across town to Bethel's Robertson Center Gym in Arden Hills, Minn., to take on the Royals in a 3 p.m. MIAC contest.