Box Score ST. JOSEPH, Minn. — For the first half of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Saint Benedict, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team gave the Bennies all they could handle.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the second half didn't go quite as well.
 
Clinging to a two-point lead at the break, Saint Benedict outscored Saint Mary's 48-24 over the game's final 20 minutes — including 23-13 in the fourth quarter — in dealing the Cardinals an 84-59 setback Wednesday evening at Claire Lynch Hall.
 
The loss overshadowed a career performance by SMU's Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.), who poured in a career-best 20 points, going 8-for-9 from the field, while adding a 4 of 9 effort from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals controlled the game's opening 10 minutes, scoring the first basket on a Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) jumper and did not relinquish the lead — building leads as big as seven, 11-4 — on another Schaffer bucket — and held a five-point lead in the waning seconds, only to have CSB's Carla Meyer beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to whittle SMU's lead to two, 20-18 heading into the second quarter.
 
CSB opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 27-26, and neither team would lead by more than two over the final nine-plus minutes of the half, with a Lydia Hay jumper and a pair of Kira Young free throws gave the Bennies the two-point advantage, 36-34, at the intermission.
 
A Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.) layup to open the second half pulled the Cardinals even, 36-36, only to have CSB rattle off nine unanswered points — and score 14 of the quarter's first 18 — to grab a 12-point, 50-38 lead. SMU got within nine, 52-43, on a Riley Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) field goal, but CSB closed the quarter with a 9-3 burst to extend its lead to 15, 61-46, heading to the fourth quarter.
 
And as good as the Bennies were in the third quarter, they were even better in the fourth, outscoring Saint Mary's 23-13 in cruising to their second win of the season over the Cardinals.
 
Along with Olson's career-best 20-point effort, the Cardinals also got double-figure scoring from Schaffer, who finished with 11 points and came one rebound shy of her second career double-double. As a team, SMU finished 22 of 55 from the field (40 %), but were just 2 of 12 from behind the 3-point line, and added a 13-for-21 effort from the free throw line.
 
CSB, meanwhile, put four players in double figures — led by Meyer with a game-high 22 points — while knocking down 13 3-pointers as part of a 28-for-61 showing from the field.
 
The Cardinals (0-11 MIAC, 2-14 overall) are right back on their home court on Saturday, welcoming St. Olaf to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 1 p.m. MIAC contest.