WINONA, Minn. — if the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team was feeling any ill effects from last Saturday's heartbreaking loss to St. Olaf, they certainly didn't show it Wednesday evening against Hamline.
At least for the game's first 37 minutes, that is.
The Cardinals, coming off a 65-63 loss to the Oles — in which St. Olaf scored the game-winning basket with less than one second remaining in regulation — appeared to have things under control late in their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup with the Pipers Wednesday.
But then, things aren't always as they appear — a lesson the Cardinals learned the hard way.
Hamline outscored the Cardinals 12-2 over the game's final four minutes, erasing a two-point SMU advantage, and leading the Pipers to a 65-55 victory over Saint Mary's at the Saint Mary's Gym.
Neither the Cardinals nor the Pipers led by more than three points in the game's opening quarter, which fittingly ended as it began — tied — with the teams taking a 17-17 deadlock into the game's second 10-minute period.
Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) opened the second quarter with a layup, and
Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) followed with a pair of free throws and a mid-range jumper — and just like that, the Cardinals led by six, 25-19, with 6:19 to play until halftime. HU trimmed the SMU lead to one, but the Cardinals never relinquished the lead, taking a 30-27 cushion into the locker room at the break.
Hamline came out of the break with the hot hand, recording eight of the first 12 points to wrestle the lead away from the Cardinals, 35-34. Five unanswered points by
Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) got the Cardinals back in front, 39-35, but the Pipers would not go away, closing the quarter on a 5-1 run to get within two, 42-40, with 10 minutes to play.
SMU extended its two-point lead to five, 50-45 on a Schaffer 3-pointer, and held a two-point, 55-53 edge on a
Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.) put-back with 4:08 remaining regulation.
And those four minutes were dominated by the Pipers, who took advantage of four Saint Mary's missed field goals and a turnover in the Cardinals' final five possessions to outscore SMU 12-2 and seal the come-from-behind win.
Schaffer finished with a team-high 18 points and led three Cardinals in double figures, being joined by Fink with 14 and Wall with 13. Fink and Wall accounted for seven of the team's eight 3-pointers, with Fink going 4-for-8 and Wall 3-8 from behind the 3-point line.
As a team, Saint Mary's shot 37.7 percent from the field (20-for-43), but were just 8 of 27 from 3-point land, while also connecting on 7 of 9 free throws.
The Cardinals (0-13 MIAC, 2-16 overall) are back in action — and back on their home court — on Saturday, playing host to Bethel in a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup at the SMU Gym.
