ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team entered Wednesday's showdown with St. Thomas determined to do something no team before them had done—beat the Tommies.
 
Unfortunately, St. Thomas had other ideas.
 
Instead of being Victor No. 1, the Cardinals became Victim No. 15, as UST raced out to a 20-7 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter and the Cardinals never recovered in falling to the Tommies 77-57 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at Schoenecker Arena.
 
The Tommies took control from the opening tip, knocking down a 3-pointer on their first possession, and never relinquished the lead. UST led 27-13 after the opening 10 minutes and outscored the Cardinals 18-16 in the second quarter to take a commanding 45-29 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
St. Thomas scored seven of the first nine points to open the third quarter and maintained a 14-point cushion, 58-45, heading into the game's final 10 minutes.
 
And a 10-2 run to open the fourth quarter sealed the Cardinals' fate, as UST outscored Saint Mary's 19-13 in the final stanza in pushing its season-opening winning streak to 15.
 
Alex Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) posted her second straight 12-point game to pace the Cardinals, who also got 11 points from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and 10 from Emma Schaefer (Roseville, Minn.).
 
Saint Mary's shot just 39 percent from the field (21-for-54)—including a 5 of 21 effort from behind the 3-point line—while St. Thomas hit on 43 percent of its field goals (27-for-62) and was 7 of 22 from behind the arc.
 
Gabby Zehrer scored a game-high 27 points and Kaitlin Langer chipped in a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Tommies (9-0 MIAC, 15-0 overall).
 
The Cardinals (5-4 MIAC, 11-5 overall) are back in action on Saturday, heading to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference matchup against the Cobbers.