Game Summary / GameDay Preview

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team kicked off their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule the same way they kicked off their regular-season schedule — with a convincing victory.

The Cardinals, behind a game-high 18 points from Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) cruised to a 57-44 conference win over Augsburg Wednesday evening.

“It was a good team effort tonight,” said SMU coach Mandy Pearson. “And we did a nice job defensively forcing (Augsburg) out of the their comfort zone a bit, and forcing them to take some shots they didn't want to take.

“It was a nice way to start the conference schedule.”

SMU, which improved to 3-1 overall — its best start since opening the 2004-2005 season with five straight wins — got off to a quick start, racing out to a 14-point, 34-20 halftime advantage, and held the Auggies at bay over the game's final 20 minutes to seal the win.

“We didn't shoot the ball as well as I would have liked, but we did enough other things well to help off-set that,” said Pearson, whose Cardinals knocked down 14 of 34 field goals in the first half, but shot just 18 percent (5-for-27) in the second half. “I was very happy with our defensive play, that was key tonight.”

Along with Miller's game-high 18 points, the Cardinals also got 11 points from Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.), while Brittany Dyshaw scored eight points to lead the way for the Auggies.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, traveling to Macalester for a 1 p.m. conference matchup against the Scots.