WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team put three players in double figures, but the Cardinals' second-half rally came up short, as Macalester dealt SMU a 64-57 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary's Gym.
Neither team could find its offensive rhythm in the first half, as Saint Mary's shot just 26.5 percent from the field — hitting on 9 of 34 field goal attempts, including a 2 of 12 effort from behind the 3-point line — while the Scots went 11-for-35 (31.4) with a 1 of 7 showing behind the arc.
Macalester jumped out to an eight point, 12-4, lead early in the first quarter, only to have Saint Mary's whittle that lead down to three, 14-11 after one quarter.
The Cardinals found a bit of a groove early in the second stanza, scoring eight of the first 10 points to take a three-point, 19-16 lead with 6:58 to play. Macalester, however, dominated the quarter's final seven minutes, outscoring Saint Mary's 10-2 to leave the court with a five-point, 26-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Cardinals put together their best quarter of the game in the third, scoring 17 points. Unfortunately, Macalester also enjoyed its best offense period in quarter No. 3, outscoring Saint Mary's 21-19 to expand its lead to seven, 47-40, heading into the game's final 10 minutes.
The Scots would build their lead to as many as nine twice in the fourth quarter — and held an eight-point, 58-50 lead with 2:15 to play.
Jada Biermeier (Eau Claire, Wis.) knocked down one of two free throws and
Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four, 58-54 with 34 ticks on the clock. Two Macalester free throws made it a six-point game, 50-54, but Macy Petron () would come through with a rain-making 3-pointer to get the Cardinals back within one possession, 60-57.
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Macalester drained four free throws down the stretch to ice the win.
Biermeier finished with a team-high 12 points for the Cardinals, who also got 11 points from
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.), and 10 from Streveler. Saint Mary's shot 33.3 percent from the field (22-for-66) with seven 3-pointers and went 6 of 9 from the 3-point line.
The Cardinals (3-10 MIAC, 4-12 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, hitting the road for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against Hamline at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.
