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WINONA, Minn. — It was not supposed to end this way.

The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title game enjoying a magical season — a season that included the team's first regular-season conference title in 28 years, not to mention its first-ever appearance in the conference tournament's title game.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, St. Thomas stood between them and the MIAC Tournament crown — and the automatic berth into the NCAA national tournament that goes with it.

The Tommies, making their fifth straight appearance in the MIAC Tournament title game, knocked down 9 of 10 free throws over the game's final 1:30 in handing the Cardinals a 71-58 setback at the SMU Gym.

"We had a few times where, I don't know if we got lost in the moment a little bit, but we did a few unconventional things we typically don't do — and St. Thomas took advantage of that," said SMU coach Mandy Pearson, whose Cardinals dropped to 24-3 overall. "We don't have a ton of slipups a game — every team has defensive slip-ups — but they got two transition baskets we don't normally give up, which is big.

"There was just a few little letdowns, and against St. Thomas — which is a very good team— if you have those, they are going to take advantage of it.

"It is a good learning lesson for us."

With the win, UST earned the conference's invitation to the NCAA's big dance, while the Cardinals will have to wait until Monday's selection show (1:30 p.m. CST) to see if they are awarded one of the national tournament's at-large berths.

"I didn't talk to our team like this was goodbye or this was the end of the season," Pearson said of her thoughts on getting an at-large bid. "I hope (we get in). We are second in the region, so I think that gives us a pretty good chance. You never know what the NCAA is going to do or where those bids are going to go, but it would be awesome if they came to us."

The Tommies proved to be Cardinal streak-killers this season — putting an end to SMU's season-high 16-game winning streak with a 65-48 victory in the teams' second meeting of the regular season on Feb. 8, while Saturday's win not only snapped the Cardinals' current five-game winning streak, but also put an end their 14-0 run on their home court.

The two teams put on quite a show in front of a full house Saturday.

UST put together a pair of 7-0 first-half runs — the second turning a one-point, 26-25 SMU lead into a 32-26 St. Thomas advantage with less than five minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes. SMU would cut the gap to three, 34-31 on a 3-pointer by Octavia Brown (Broadview, Ill.), but the Tommies closed the half by scoring four of the final six points to take a 38-33 advantage into the locker room at the break.

SMU scored the first two points of the second half on a basket by Courtney Euerle (Litchfield, Minn.) — and outscored UST 13-11 in the first nine minutes, to make keep it a three-point game, 49-46.

From there, however, it was all UST, as the Tommies built their lead to 11, 59-48 — thanks to a 10-2 burst — with 7:20 remaining. The Cardinals whittled the Tommie lead to six twice, but with 1:25 on the clock, and down by seven, 62-55, SMU was forced to foul — and UST made them pay, draining 8 of 9 free throws to ice the victory.

For the third time in the last 14 days, Euerle tossed in a career-high 22 points for the Cardinals Saturday, as the senior — playing in what could be her final collegiate home game — drained 10 of 16 field goal attempts and was 2-for-4 from the free throw line.

Euerle was the only Cardinal to score in double figures, while St. Thomas boasted four players with 10 or more points — led by Taylor Young with 15 and Kelly Brandenburg with 15. Jenna Dockter finished with 13 points for UST, and Maggie Weiers chipped in a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards.

As a team, the Cardinals shot 39 percent from the field (24-for-62) and were just 5-for-20 from behind the 3-point line. St. Thomas, meanwhile, was a blistering 60 percent from the field (27-for-45) and made 15 of 23 free throws — including those key eight down the stretch.

"We did a lot of good things so far this season," said Euerle, who will watch with her teammates on Monday as the NCAA announces its NCAA Division III national tournament participants (click here to watch selection show). "We are saying our prayers to hopefully get a bid — that is all we can do right about now."


















The opening 20 minutes certainly lived up to all the pre-game hype, as the two tea