ST. PETER, Minn. — New day, same story.
And, unfortunately for Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball coach Mandy Pearson, it’s a story that does not have a happy ending.
The Cardinals made just eight first-half field goals Wednesday evening against Gustavus, and the Gusties took advantage, racing out to a 43-22 lead at the break en route to a 68-49 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.
SMU, which scored just 15 points in the opening 20 minutes of Saturday’s conference loss at Bethel, couldn’t seem to get things going on the road again Wednesday, as Gustavus scored the game’s first six points and never looked back, building their first-half lead to as many as 24, before settling for its 21-point halftime cushion.
The Cardinals whittled the GAC lead down to 15 on two separate occasions over the final 20 minutes, but that was as close as they would get in dropping their fifth straight.
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) finished with a team-high 13 points for the Cardinals, while
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.) chipped in 10 points and
Sarah Adie (Chanhassen, Minn.) added eight points and six rebounds.
Brianna Radtke led the way for Gustavus, scoring a game-high 15 points and leading three GAC players in double figures.
The Cardinals (3-11 MIAC, 4-13 overall) are back in action on Saturday, returning home to play host to Saint Benedict in a 3 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Gym.