WINONA, Minn. — The first time the Saint Mary's University and Saint Benedict women's basketball teams squared off, the Cardinals had to overcome a sluggish start — managing just seven first-quarter points — only to have their furious second-half rally fall just short in dropping a three-point, 69-66 decision on the road on Dec. 1.
Wednesday evening, the Cardinals kicked off the second round of conference action with a rematch against the Bennies.
This time around, it wasn't a sluggish start that did in the Cardinals — it was the Bennies' long-range marksmanship.
Saint Benedict poured in 11 3-pointers — including nine in the second half — as the Bennies turned a five-point halftime lead into a 16-point, 69-53, victory over the Cardinals in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
After giving up six of the game's first eight points, Saint Mary's came roaring back, using a 6-3 burst to take its lone lead of the half, 8-7 on a pair of free throws by
Jada Biermeier (Eau Claire, Wis.) with 3:30 to play in the opening quarter.
CSB responded with four unanswered points — including a 3-pointer by Kate Seyer to push its lead to 12-8, only to have
Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) knock down a 3-pointer of her own to get the Cardinals within one, 12-11, heading into the second quarter.
It appeared as if the Cardinals were in the midst of one of those single-digit quarters in the second stanza, as the Bennies outscored Saint Mary's 13-3 through the first seven minutes, but five points from Biermeier and a layup by
Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) capped a 7-1 half-ending run to get SMU within five, 26-11, at the break.
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) came out firing to open the second half — and keep the Cardinals within striking distance — knocking down SMU's first six points of the second half to make it a four-point game, 31-27, with more than six minutes to play.
Saint Mary's cut the deficit to two, 34-32, on a Biermeier floater midway through the third quarter, but the Bennies would pour in four 3-pointers over the final five minutes — outscoring the Cardinals 18-9 in that stretch — to push their lead to 52-41 head into the fourth quarter.
Saint Benedict would continue to stretch their advantage over the game's final 10 minutes, netting 12 of the quarter's first 14 points for a 64-43 cushion, and the Bennies never looked back in completing the sweep of the teams' two conference meetings this season.
Paulson led the way for the Cardinals, scoring a team-best 19 points, while Biermeier was close behind with 16 — including 10 in the first half. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 36.4 percent from the field (20-for-56) with seven 3-pointers and a 6-for-10 effort from the free throw line.
Saint Benedict, meanwhile, put four players in double figures — led by Carla Meyer with 18 points, including a 4 of 10 showing from behind the arc. The Bennies knocked down 11 3-pointers and shot 27-for-64 from the field (42.5 percent) en route to their ninth win of the season.
The Cardinals (3-8 MIAC, 4-10 overall) are right back on their home court on Saturday, as Saint Mary's welcomes Macalester to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 1 p.m. MIAC showdown.
