ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team could do no wrong in the first quarter of its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against Saint Benedict.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, little went right after that opening 10 minutes.
Saint Mary's raced out to a 17-5 first-quarter lead over the playoff-bound Bennies — and clung to a six-point lead at halftime — only to have CSB erupt for 28 second-half points, while limiting SMU to just 13, in handing the Cardinals a 52-41 setback Saturday at Claire Lynch Hall.
Saint Mary's scored the first five points of the game, and pushed that advantage to 12, 14-2, before settling for a 17-5 cushion through the opening quarter. The Bennies, however, whittled away at the Saint Mary's lead, methodically trimming it to six, 28-22 at the break.
A break that seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Saint Benedict offense.
CSB opened the second half on a 15-1 run — SMU's lone point coming off an
Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) free throw — to build an eight point, 37-29 lead with 5:35 to play in the third quarter.
Saint Mary's closed the quarter scoring five of the final eight points to get within six, 40-34, heading into the fourth quarter, only to have CSB open the stanza much the same way the Bennies opened the third — scoring the quarter's first eight points — and they never looked back in snapping SMU's two-game winning streak.
Streveler was the lone Cardinal in double figures, finishing with 14 points. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 34.8 percent from the field (16-for-46), with five 3-pointers, while netting 4 of 7 free throw attempts.
The Cardinals (7-13 MIAC, 8-14 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, when they return home to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against Bethel.
