WINONA, Minn. — With temperatures in the single digits, it may have been too cold to rain outside Saturday afternoon, but it was most definitely raining inside the Saint Mary's Gym.
Raining threes.
The Cardinals set a single-game school record with 15 3-pointers — including seven by
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) and three each from
Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) and
Maggie Newhouse (Owatonna, Minn.) — and Concordia never had a chance, as Saint Mary's rolled to a 71-54 conference victory.
Boasting the Midas Touch from beyond the 3-point line, the Cardinals were virtually untouchable in the first half, raining in nine 3-pointers — including three each by the Cardinal sharp-shooting duo of
Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) and
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) — en route to an 11-point, 38-27 halftime advantage.
The Cardinals set the tone from the get-go, knocking down five first-quarter 3-pointers — two each from Paulson and
Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) and one from Newhouse — to grab a 20-11 lead after 10 minutes.
And as good as they were in the first quarter, the Cardinals were even better in the second — at least
Izzy Goettelman was.
Goettelman accounted for 13 of Saint Mary's 18 second-quarter points — raining in three, 3-pointers, while adding a pull-up jumper and a pair of free throws — as the Cardinals pushed their lead to as many as 16 twice, before settling for their 11-point, 38-27 cushion at the break.
The intermission did nothing to cool off the red-hot Cardinals, as Saint Mary's tossed in three more treys in both the third and four quarters — including the record-setting 15
th by Paulson with 2:25 to play.
Saint Mary's led by as many as 23 in the third quarter and set it on cruise control in the fourth, leading by 20, 66-46, following Paulson's final 3-pointer and coasting to the win — the Cardinals' second in their last three games.
Paulson finished with a game-high 23 points, going 8-for-17 from the field — including 7 of 11 from behind the arc — while Goettelman chipped n 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting with three 3-points and a 2-for-3 effort from the free throw line.
As a team, Saint Mary's shot 41.7 percent from the field (25-for-60) with 15 threes, and went 6 of 9 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (7-13 MIAC, 8-15 overall) close out the regular-season portion of their schedule with a pair of road games next week. Saint Mary's will head to Northfield, Minn., for a 5:45 matchup against Carleton on Monday, before traveling to St. Paul, Minn., to take on St. Catherine in a 7 p.m. showdown on Wednesday.
