ST. JOSEPH, Minn.  — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team kicks off its 2014-15 season at the Saint Benedict Quinlivan & Hughes Tip-Off Tournament this weekend. The Cardinals square off against UW-River Falls on Saturday, before taking on UM-Morris on Sunday. Opening tip for both games is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
The Matchups:
Saturday, November 15, 2014
• No. 23/24 Saint Mary's Cardinals (2013-14: 24-4 Overall) vs. UW-River Falls Falcons (2013-14 6-19 Overall)
Sunday, November 16, 2014
• No. 23/24 Saint Mary's Cardinals (2013-14: 24-4 Overall) vs. UM-Morris Cougars 17-10 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
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National Rankings:
• The Cardinal open the 2014-15 campaign ranked in a pair of national preseason polls. The Cardinals are ranked No. 23 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, while coming in at No. 24 in the USA Today Sports Coaches Preseason Poll | D3hoops.com | USA Today
 
Last Action:
• This weekend's games are the season openers for Saint Mary's, UW-River Falls and UM-Morris.
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-River Falls—Their Last Meeting:
• November 25, 2008:  Defensively, Saint Mary's took a giant step forward against UW-River Falls. After giving up 91 points in their season-opening 91-45 loss to NCAA Division II Winona State , the Cardinals held UW-River Falls to just 67 points in their nonconference showdown. While Saint Mary's improved on the defensive ends by leaps and bounds, the Cardinal offense couldn't get on track, managing just 49 points in falling 67-49 in River Falls, Wis. | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UM-Morris—Their Last Meeting:
• Sunday's matchup will be the first in program history for the Cardinals and Cougars.
 
Up Next:
•  Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are back on the road on Tuesday, traveling to Eau Claire, Wis., for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against UW-Eau Claire.
• UW-River Falls: The Falcons return to the road on Wednesday, heading to Northfield, Minn., for a 5:30 p.m. nonconference tilt against Carleton
• UM-Morris: The Cougars kick off the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday, entertaining Trinity Bible College in a 5:30 p.m. contest in Morris, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2013-14 Statistics
Saint Mary's boasted six players who earned MIAC post-season awards in 2013-14, led by Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.)—who picked up three conference honors, being named MIAC Player of the Year, First-Team All-MIAC and a member of the MIAC All-Defensive Team. Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) joined Euerle as a First-Team All-MIAC and MIAC All-Defensive Team selection, while Mariam Awoniyi (Country Club Hills, Ill.) and Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) earned All-First-Year Team honors. Darcey Rice (Eagan, Minn.) and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.), meanwhile, were honorable-mention All-MIAC picks. … The Cardinals made their first NCAA national tournament appearance since the 1985-86 season, falling to UW-Oshkosh 71-61 in the regional semifinal. … The Cardinals enter 2014-15 ranked No. 23 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25 and No. 24 in the USA TODAY Sports Preseason Coaches Poll. … Saint Mary's closed out the season 14-1 on its home court last season, the lone setback a 71-58 decision to St. Thomas in the MIAC Tournament title game. The Cardinals are now 25-2 at home over the past two seasons. … Saint Mary's had five or more players score in double figures in the same game five times last season — including six double-figure scorers in its 107-29 win over Crown on Nov. 23. … Euerle finished the season leading the team in both scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). … Auseth and Pethke also averaging in double figures a year ago at 10.7 ppg and 10.6 ppg, respectively. … Saint Mary's boasted a pair of double-double performers in its Feb. 1 win over Concordia — Euerle recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Awoniyi finished with 10 points and 13 boards. … The double-double was the first of Awoniyi's collegiate career. … Saint Mary's drained a season-high 32 free throws on 39 attempts against Bethel on Feb. 27. … Pethke finished with a single-season career-high 128 assists last season—including a career-best eight in Saint Mary's regular-season finale against Augsburg. … Pethke's 128 assists ranked No. 3 all-time. … As a team, Saint Mary's boasted 167 3-pointers—ranking second-most in program history. … Saint Mary's drained a season-high nine 3-pointers in a game three times a year ago. … Rice knocked down a team-leading 58 3-pointers, which is the second-most in program history and just two shy of the school record 60, set by Ashley Luehmann ('05)  in 2004-05. … The Cardinals scored 90 or more points three times a year ago—including a 94-point showing against Bethel in the MIAC Tournament semifinal on Feb. 27. … Saint Mary's finished the season averaging 71.5 ppg, while limiting its opponents to just 58.4 ppg. … Saint Mary's 69-62 win over Gustavus on Feb. 15 was the Cardinals' only overtime game of the season. … The Cardinals have played just one OT game in each of their last three seasons. … Saint Mary's 65-48 loss to St. Thomas on Feb. 8 snapped the Cardinals' 16-game winning streak—a run that was just three games short of the longest win streak in program history. … Saint Mary's 72-69 win over Concordia on Feb. 1—coupled with its 66-57 win over the Cobbers in their first meeting on Jan. 4—marked the first since the 1984-85 season that the Cardinals have swept their regular-season series against Concordia. … Saint Mary's first win vs. the Cobbers on Jan. 4 snapped an 18-game losing streak against the Cobbers dating back to a 71-58 win on Feb. 15, 2004. It was also Saint Mary's first win at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium since the Cardinals recorded a 58-46 win on Jan. 20, 2003. … The Cardinals broke a pair of long-standing school records with their 107-29 victory over Crown on Nov. 23. The Cardinals' 107 points were a school record—breaking the previous high of 106 set in a 106-30 win over Carleton on Feb. 19, 1986. Saint Mary's 78-point margin of victory was also a new school record, two points better than the old mark of 76, also set during that Feb. 19, 1986 win over Carleton.

 Scouting The UW-River Falls Falcons:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2013-14 Final Statistics
Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of five straight games against teams from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the Falcons, who also have Saint Benedict, Carleton, St. Olaf and Bethel on their schedule. … UW-River Falls plays five of its first six games on the road—the lone exception a showdown against St. Olaf on Nov. 22. … Richell Mehus and Hailey Siegle led the Falcons in scoring a year ago, averaging 9.9 ppg and 9.0 ppg, respectively. … Siegle was the only Falcon to start all 25 games a year ago. … Tess Lueders was the team's rebounding leader, hauling in 144 (5.8 rpg). … UW-River Falls drained 139 3-pointers a year ago, with Siegle (34), Kristi Elles (24), and Katie Messman (23) accounting for 81 of them. … Four of UW-River Falls' six wins last year came on the road. The Falcons were just 2-9 on their home court, while going 4-10 on the road. … UW-River Falls played one overtime game a year ago, beating UW-Eau Claire 666-1 in double OT on Jan. 8. … The Falcons suffered through losing streaks of three, five and seven games, while winning back-to-back games twice.
 
Scouting The UM-Morris Cougars:
2014-15 Roster | 2014-15 Schedule | 2013-14 Final Statistics
The Cougars collected their fifth straight UMAC regular-season championship a year ago, and head into 2014-15 as the UMAC Preseason Poll's pick to win the conference title again this year. …  UM-Morris returns four starters from last year's squad that went 13-1 in UMAC play. … The Cougars return 80 percent of the scoring from a team that averaged 66.2 ppg a year ago. … Kendra Wycoff returns for her senior year, after leading the team with a 13.3 ppg scoring average a year ago. … Wycoff also led the team in 3-pointers, draining 60 of the team's 127 treys. … Emily Auch also returns, after averaging 12.5 ppg and hauling in 205 rebounds (7.6 rpg). … Tori Holt, who was third on the team with a 9.4 ppg scoring average, was named the UMAC Freshman of the Year a year ago. … UM-Morris finished 9-4 on their home court a year ago—including a perfect 7-0 in conference play. … UM-Morris' season-ending 71-33 loss to Northwestern snapped the Cougars' season-high 11-game winning streak. … UM-Morris closed out the season 15-2 in the final 17 games of the season a year ago.