ST. PAUL, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball coach Mandy Pearson doesn’t want to sound like a broken record, but after Monday’s performance against St. Thomas, the Cardinal head coach couldn’t help herself.
After all, it was the same old story.
The Cardinals, who have struggled to put together a complete first half of late, found the early going their Achilles’ heel again Monday, as St. Thomas turned a three-point, 13-10, deficit into a 29-point, 44-15, cushion in the span of 12 minutes, as the Tommies rode that 34-2 run to a 50-20 halftime advantage and never looked back in handing SMU a 78-49 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback.
“We started out pretty well,” said Pearson, whose Cardinals again played a solid second half, outscoring UST 29-28. “We were doing a good job of running our offense, getting good looks, and defensively, we were solid.
“But (St. Thomas) got on a roll, we started forcing our shots and getting out of our offense, and it just snowballed on us.”
Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, scoring a game-high 20 points, while
Emily DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn.) chipped in 10.
Rachel Booth finished with 19 points and Becky Theisen tallied 15 for the Tommies, who shot 49 percent from the field, hitting 28 of 57 field goal attempts.
The Cardinals, who fall to 3-13 in the MIAC and 4-15 overall, are back in action — and back on the road — on Wednesday, traveling to Carleton for a 5:45 p.m. conference matchup with the Knights.