WINONA, Minn. — After opening their season with three straight road games, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team — coming off a 61-59 win over Elmhurst during the second day of the University of Chicago Midway Classic on Nov. 22 — kick off their home season Wednesday, playing host to Macalester in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

The Records:
Saint Mary's Cardinals (0-0 MIAC / 1-2 Overall)
Macalester Scots (0-0 MIAC / 0-3 Overall)

GameDay On The Web:
Live Stats / Listen Live / Coach Pearson Interview / GameDay Program

Last Action: The Cardinals picked up their first win of the season on Nov. 22, racing out to a 13-point halftime lead, then holding off a late Elmhurst rally to beat the Bluejays 61-59. Macalester, meanwhile, lost a heartbreaker in its final nonconference game, as UW-River Falls scored with 0.5 remaining in regulation to beat the Scots 68-67 on Nov. 24.

A Year Ago: SMU and Macalester split their two MIAC contests a year ago, with each team winning on their home floor.

December 3, 2008: Macalester held SMU to just 15 points in the game's opening 20 minutes en route to a 65-50 victory in St. Paul, Minn.

January 21, 2009: The Cardinals rebounded from an ice-cold opening 11 minutes to grab a 31-25 halftime lead and cruised to a 59-50 MIAC victory over the Scots.

Saint Mary's Cardinal Notes: After three straight road games, the Cardinals begin a stretch of four straight home games tonight vs. Macalester. … Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) who scored a team-leading 12 points in leading SMU to a 61-59 win over Elmhurst on Nov. 22, was named to the Midway Classic All-Tournament Team. … Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) chipped in 10 points vs. Elmhurst, while Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) — who led the team in scoring each of its first two games — added eight points. … Renee Pecarina (Winona, Minn.) missed her first collegiate double-figure performance by one point, scoring nine vs. Elmhurst. … Sarah Adie (Chanhassen, Minn.) pulled down a team-best eight boards vs. Elmhurst. It was the second straight game in which Adie has led the team in rebounding. … Kulig enters tonight's conference opener leading the team in scoring (8.3 ppg), followed by Thone (7.7 ppg) and Miller (7.0 ppg). … As a team, SMU is shooting 36 percent from the field (54-for-149) and 65 percent from the free throw line (17-for-26).

Macalester Scot Notes: The Scots' loss to UW-River Falls extended their season-opening winless streak to three. … Macalester's three losses have been decided by a combined 10 points — including a three-point loss to Whitman and a one-point loss to UW-River Falls. … Macalester's offense has improved with each game — scoring 59 vs. Whitman, 61 vs. Whitworth and a season-high 67 vs. UW-River Falls. … Jessica Rene scored a team-high 14 points vs. the Falcons on Nov. 24. She was the third different player to lead the team in scoring in Macalester's three games. … Trina PaStarr enters tonight's game with a team-best 12.0 ppg scoring average, while Ann Beltzer is the team's rebounding leader at 7.0 rebounds-per-game. … The Scots have outscored their first three opponents 89-84 in the opening half, but have been outscored 113-98 over the game's final 20 minutes.