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WINONA, Minn. — There were plenty of stars shining for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team Wednesday evening — but none shined brighter than Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.).

In arguably the biggest game of the season, the Cardinal freshman came up with her biggest game, as Auseth netted a career-high 12 points — including a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the second half — to spark SMU to a 70-62 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Saint Benedict at the SMU Gym.

SMU and Saint Benedict entered Wednesday's game tied with St. Thomas for second place in the conference standings — with the Cardinals leaving the SMU Gym still deadlocked with St. Thomas, but now a game in front of Saint Benedict.

With a win on Saturday in the team's regular-season finale against Augsburg, the Cardinals can finish no worse than the third seed in next week's MIAC Tournament  — and a Tommie slip-up against St. Catherine on Saturday, combined with an SMU win over the Auggies, would earn SMU the No. 2 spot and a first-round bye.

Should SMU and UST both win on Saturday, the Tommies — by virtue of the second tie-breaker (a 1-1 record against Concordia) — would earn the No. 2 slot, while SMU would be third and host the sixth seed on Tuesday at the SMU Gym.

Were it not for the stellar effort of Auseth — not to mention Jessica Thone (Woodbury, Minn.), Jamie Stefely (Lisle, Ill.), Courtney Euerle (Hutchinson, Minn.), and the rest of the Cardinal squad — those scenarios could have looked much different.

Stefely did most of her damage in the first half, as the senior post tossed in nine of her 13 points in the game's opening 20 minutes.

Thone, Euerle and Auseth picked up the slack in the second half — as the trio combined for 25 of SMU's 34 points over the game's final 20 minutes.

The Blazers had the upper hand early, building leads as big as seven four times in the game's opening 20 minutes — but the Cardinals were unfazed, as SMU used an 11-3 run to take its first lead of the game, 31-30, with 2:09 on the clock and finished the half by scoring five of the last seven points to take a 36-32 advantage into the locker room at the break.

SMU shot 38 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, hitting on 11 of 29 field goals, including four 3-pointers — two by Thone and one each from Bridget Pethke (Larsen, Wis.) and Sara Schoenthaler (White Bear Lake, Minn.).

The Blazers, meanwhile, hit on 67 percent from the field in the first half on 14 of 21 shooting — but SMU forced CSB into 14 first-half turnovers to help lift the Cardinals' to their four-point advantage.

Saint Benedict had the upper hand in the opening minutes of the second half, rallying for a 43-41 advantage, but a Auseth 3-pointer ignited an 8-0 burst that turned into a 15-2 run to give SMU a commanding 11-point, 56-45 advantage.

And the Blazers never recovered — getting no closer than six the rest of the way in dropping their second straight.

Thone finished with a game-high 20 points to lead four Cardinals in double figures. Stefely added 13, while Auseth and Euerle each chipped in 12. It was the fifth time this season SMU has boasted a game with four players scoring in double figures.

Brianna Barrett netted a team-best 19 points for the Blazers, who also got 17 points from Morgan Dale and 14 from Whitney Canton.

The win was the 20th of the season for SMU (17-4 MIAC, 20-4 overall) — the most wins in a season under coach Mandy Pearson and the most since the Cardinals went 24-3 and finished third in the NCAA Regional during the 1985-86 season.