MOORHEAD, Minn. — The frigid temperatures outside weren't the only things cold Saturday afternoon.
Inside Memorial Auditorium, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team gave Mother Nature's six-degree outside temperature a run for its money.
Saint Mary's shot just 25 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes — and the Cardinal offense could not seem to heat up in the second half in falling to Concordia 62-41 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup.
The Cardinals put themselves behind the eight ball early, surrendering the game's first 14 points, leaving SMU staring at a 14-0 deficit before the first quarter was even half over.
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) recorded Saint Mary's first eight points — including a pair of 3-pointers — as the Cardinals outscored the Cobbers 8-5 down the stretch to get within nine, 19-10, after the game's first 10 minutes.
Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws to cut the CC lead to seven, 19-12. Saint Mary's would get within seven three more times — including 25-18 on Paulson's fifth field goal of the half — to make it 25-18. Emily Beseman hit on one of two free throws to round out the first-half scoring, and giving Concordia a 26-18 edge at the break.
Saint Mary's struggled to get in a rhythm in the first half, going 6 of 24 from the field, and just 2 of 13 from behind the 3-point line, while also committing 14 first-half turnovers.
The second half started in much the same fashion as the first — which was not good news for the Cardinals — as Concordia scored the third quarter's first seven points to push its lead to 15, 33-18. Saint Mary's clawed back to within nine, 37-28 on an
Emma Miller (Eau Claire, Wis.) 3-pointer with four minutes remaining — but the Cobbers would close the quarter on a 10-3 run to make it a 16-point CC cushion, 47-31, heading into the fourth quarter.
Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) drilled a 3-pointer and Paulson added a field goal in sparking a 5-2 SMU run to open the fourth stanza, but the Cardinals would not get closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Paulson, who scored 12 of SMU's 18 points in the first half, finished with a team-best 20 points on 9 of 20 shooting, while Streveler added six points and
Graysin Hartjes (Kaukauna, Wis.) added five. As a team, Saint Mary's went 15 of 50 from the field (30 percent) — including 5 of 23 from the 3-point line — while adding a 6-for-8 showing from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (3-8 MIAC, 4-10 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Gym to square off against Saint Benedict in a 7 p.m. conference matchup.
