NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball team, coming off a 78-49 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss at St. Thomas on Monday, is back on the road again Wednesday, traveling to Carleton for a 5:45 p.m. conference showdown against the Knights.
The Records:
Saint Mary’s Cardinals (3-13 MIAC / 4-15 Overall)
Carleton Knights (4-12 MIAC / 4-15 Overall)
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Last Action: St. Thomas erased a 13-10 SMU lead, using a 34-2 run en route to a 50-20 halftime advantage and the Cardinals never recovered, falling to the Tommies 78-49 Monday in St. Paul, Minn. Carleton, meanwhile, fell behind 18-2 and couldn’t make up any ground, as St. Olaf dealt the Knights a 58-51 conference setback Monday in Northfield, Minn.
Last Meeting — December 13, 2009: The Knights used a perfect 14-for-14 effort from the charity stripe to outscore SMU 17-7 in overtime and escape the SMU Gym with an
80-70 victory over the Cardinals.
Saint Mary’s Cardinal Notes: Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) scored a game-high 20 points in the Cardinals’ loss to St. Thomas Monday. It was the fifth straight game — and 11th time this season — the Cardinal junior has led the team in scoring. … Monday’s 20-point effort was the second time this season Miller has scored 20 or more points. She scored a career-best 29 points on Dec. 7 against Gustavus. … Miller, who extended her consecutive starts streak to 69 Monday, has now scored in double figures in 15 of the team’s 19 games. …
Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.), who scored a career-high 27 points in SMU’s first meeting vs. the Knights on Jan. 4, has accounted for three of the Cardinals’ five 20-point performances this season (27, 22 and 21 points). Miller (27 points) and
Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis. / 24 points) are the other two. … Thone scored 13 points and added 11 rebounds vs. Bethel on Jan. 23 en route to her first collegiate double-double. Her double-double vs. the Royals was the second of the season for the Cardinals, who also got a 16-point, 16-rebound effort from
Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.) vs. Hamline on Jan. 6. … Miller enters today’s game boasting a team-best 14.1 ppg scoring average. She also ranks fifth in the MIAC in scoring, averaging 15.4 ppg in 19 conference games … Thone leads the team in 3-pointers (37), while Kulig boasts a team-high 64 assists. … Three of SMU’s four wins this season have come at home. … The Cardinals’ 80-70 loss vs. Carleton in their first meeting on Jan. 4 was the first OT game of the season and just the second in the last three seasons for SMU. The Cardinals beat Bethel 73-69 in double overtime a year ago.
Carleton Knight Notes: Over the last three weeks, the Knights have played some of their best basketball against the MIAC’s best teams and their worst against the squads at the bottom of the standings. Carleton knocked off then conference co-leader Macalester 60-48 in mid-January and took conference co-leader Concordia to the final possession in losing 48-45 last Wednesday. However recent clunkers against Augsburg (1-11 coming into the game) and St. Olaf (3-15 coming into the game) have essentially killed any hopes of getting back into the playoff picture. … Carleton trailed 18-2 seven minutes into Monday’s game at St. Olaf and never recovered. The Knights eventually closed to within five points but ran out of time to complete the comeback, losing 58-51. … Meagan Mileusnic and Ally Weaver each scored 14 points to lead the Knights vs. St. Olaf Monday. … Carleton’s 65-60 win over Hamline last Saturday snapped a five-game losing streak. Unfortunately, Monday’s loss vs. St.Olaf means the Knights have lost six of their last seven. … Annie Eckhoff turned in one of the league’s best performances last week, notching a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) vs. Concordia and followed it up with a 17-point effort on 7 of 7 shooting in a 65-60 win over Hamline. … Weaver and Megan Erlandson enter tonight’s game vs. SMU averaging in double figures, boasting 13.7 ppg and 10.7 ppg averages, respectively. … Weaver has knocked down a team-high 38 3-pointers, while also sharing the team lead in assists (36) with Erlandson.