ST. PAUL, Minn. — There was good news, and there was bad news, for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team Saturday afternoon.
The good news: With the regular-season behind them, the Cardinals will turn their focus to the post-season—a first-round bye and a home-court game in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Thursday.
The bad news: The Cardinals will be heading into the post-season on the heels of Saturday's 89-65 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss to regular-season champion and eighth-ranked St. Thomas at Schoenecker Arena.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Cardinals in the first half against the Tommies, as St. Thomas outscored Saint Mary's 24-8 in the first quarter—scoring 14 of the first 18 points and 14 of the last 18 of the quarter —and added a 16-11 second-half outburst to take an overwhelming 40-19 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
And things didn't go much better for the Cardinals over the game's final 20 minutes, as St. Thomas outscored Saint Mary's 21-16 in the third quarter to take a 61-35 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals enjoyed their highest offensive quarter in the fourth, scoring 30 points, but it was too little, too late, as Saint Mary's fell to the Tommies for the second time in as many meetings.
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.), back after missing six games due to an appendectomy, made her presence felt, scoring a team-high 15 points for the Cardinals, while
Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) and
Brigette Audette (Big Lake, Minn.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Kaitlin Langer scored a game-high 28 points and added 13 rebounds for the Tommies, who also got double-figure scoring from Katie Stone (16), Maddie Wolkow (13), and Paige Gernes (10).
The Cardinals (14-4 MIAC, 20-5 overall) are now off until Thursday, when they host one of the two MIAC Playoff semifinal games. No. 3 Gustavus hosts No. 6 Saint Benedict and No. 4 Concordia entertains No. 5 Bethel in the two quarterfinal games, with the highest remaining seed traveling to second-seeded Saint Mary's and the lowest headed to top-seeded St. Thomas.
