ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — For the second time in as many meetings, the winner of the Saint Mary’s University and Bethel women’s basketball game netted 58 points Saturday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals — who got a game-winning 3-point basket by
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) to beat the Royals 58-55 in their first meeting of the season on Dec. 5 — it was the Royals who hit the 58-point mark Saturday, as the Royals outscored SMU 23-15 in the opening half and never looked back en route to a 58-45 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.
The first half proved to be the Cardinals’ downfall for the second straight conference contest, as SMU — which managed just 20 first-half points in its 91-63 loss at Macalester on Wednesday — made just 6 of 29 field goals in the opening 20 minutes vs. Bethel, falling behind 23-15 at the break.
"We got off to a slow start offensively and were just never able to recover," said SMU coach Mandy Pearson. "Defensively, I was pretty pleased with the way we played. I thought we did some really good things out there today — Jess Thone was a monster on the boards — we've just got to find a way to get our offense on track."
SMU held a 12-8 lead with 8:07 remaining in the opening half, but the Royals responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, 13-12, and eventually outscored SMU 15-7 in those final eight minutes in building their eight-point halftime advantage.
Bethel scored the first four points of the second half and never trailed by less than 10 the rest of the way in earning a split of its two-game MIAC series against the Cardinals.
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) scored a game-high 16 points for the Cardinals (3-10 MIAC, 4-12 overall), while Thone added 13 points and 11 rebounds in recording the first double-double of her collegiate career.
Taylor Sheley and Kristi Nye finished in double figures for the Royals (5-8 MIAC, 6-10 overall), scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The Cardinals are back in action — and back on the road — on Wednesday, when they travel to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. MIAC contest against Gustavus.