WINONA, Minn. — A year ago, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference adopted a new 18-game conference schedule—doing away with the previous 22-game, double-round-robin format.
 
Now, each MIAC team is guaranteed to played the other 11 conference teams once, and seven of the 11 teams twice.
 
One of those teams that the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team only gets to play once this year is Concordia.
 
And Wednesday evening, the Cardinals made the most of the opportunity.
 
Fueled by the offensive efforts of Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) and Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.), the Cardinals ran their MIAC-leading record to 7-0, outlasting the Cobbers 61-55 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cobbers built the biggest lead of the first quarter, holding 10-7 and 14-11 advantages, but Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.)—who had a monster first half—knocked down a 3-pointers in the waning seconds to pull Saint Mary's even, 14-14 after one quarter.
 
The second 10-minute stanza proved to be a tale of two quarters, as Concordia scored seven of the first nine points to take its biggest lead of the game, 21-16 with just under four minutes to play.
 
From there, however, it was all Saint Mary's, as the Cardinals used a half-ending 11-2 run, capped by a jumper from Brigette Audette (Big Lake, Minn.)—off an assist from Pethke—to give the Cardinals a five-point, 28-23, halftime cushion.
 
That lead quickly evaporated in the third quarter, as Concordia scored six unanswered points to take a 29-28 lead. The Cardinals turned the tables on the Cobbers, responding with a 6-0 run of their own to regain the lead, 34-29—and Saint Mary's never looked back, closing the quarter with their biggest lead of the game, 49-38.
 
Concordia again came out strong to open the final quarter, scoring the first seven points to make it a four-point game, 49-45. Saint Mary's pushed the lead back to eight, 55-47, with 1:14 remaining, and knocked down their final four free throws—two from Blattner and two from Pethke—down the stretch to ice the six-point win.
 
Pethke and Blattner each led the Cardinals with 17 points—12 of Pethke's coming in the game's first half. Scoring points, however, wasn't all the dynamic duo did against the Cobbers, as Pethke added seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while Blattner chipped in a game-high 14 rebounds for her fourth straight double-double.
 
Greta Walsh scored a game-high 23 points and Hannh Jeske added 11 rebounds in the losing effort for Concordia (4-3 MIAC, 8-6 overall).
 
The Cardinals (7-0 MIAC, 13-1 overall)—who maintained their two-game lead in the conference standings with their fifth straight victory—return to action on Saturday, playing host to nationally ranked St. Thomas in a 3 p.m. conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.