WINONA, Minn. — It took a little extra time — and a few white-knuckle moments — but the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team came away with the victory Wednesday evening.
Brooklyn Paulson (Holmen, Wis.) drained a 3-pointer with 11.8 seconds remaining in regulation to send the Cardinals into overtime in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with the Royals. And once in the extra session, Saint Mary's forced the visiting Royals into a 0-for-6 showing from the field and sauntered out of the SMU Gym with a 70-68 victory.
Both team had opportunities to play with the lead in the first half — but neither could hang on to it long.
Saint Mary's came out guns-a-blazing to open the contest, scoring nine of the first 11 points for a 9-2 cushion. BU, however, answered with a 10-2 run of its own to nab its first advantage of the evening, 12-11. SMU regained the upper hand, 13-12 on an
Alyssa Coleman (Matteson, Ill.) layup, only to have the Royals net the quarter's final four points — including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Colette Duinnick that gave Bethel a 16-15 edge.
Saint Mary's wrestled the lead away from the Royals, 22-21, on an
Izzy Goettelman (Winona, Minn.) jumper, but the Royals once again had an answer, getting a 3-pointer from Anna Garfield late in the quarter for a 27-24 lead. Saint Mary's had one final push, outscoring the Royals 9-3 in the waning minutes to seal a 33-30 halftime advantage.
Bethel came out of the break netting nine of the first 11 points to take a 39-35 lead midway through the third quarter.
Ashley Streveler (Colby, Wis.) knocked down a 3-pointer and Coleman completed a three-point play — and just like that, the Cardinals were back in front, 41-39. BU answered by ending the quarter on a 9-3 run to snag a 48-45 lead heading into the four quarter.
And what a quarter it proved to be.
Bethel had all the momentum early, leading by as many as eight points twice — including 58-50 with less than five minutes to play. Unfazed, SMU came storming back, getting Paulson's clutch 3-pointer with 11 ticks on the clock to knot the game at 63-63 — and force the five-minute overtime.
Bethel once again grabbed the early lead, hitting 5 of 6 free throws to hold a 68-65 lead with less than two minutes to play.
Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.) scored on a layup and Goettelman converted 3 of 4 free throws to give SMU a 70-68 cushion with 13 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, BU got an open look, but missed what would have been a game-tying layup with two seconds to play.
Paulson finished with a team-high 21 points, while Streveler chipped in 16 and Cruze added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 35.0 percent from the fie3ld (21-for-60) with six 3-pointers, and finished 22-for-26 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (8-13 MIAC, 9-15 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they close out their regular-season schedule by host No. 18 Gustavus in a 3 p.m. conference matchup at the Saint Mary's Gym.
