ST. PETER, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and Gustavus women's basketball teams squared off on Dec. 10 in the teams' first meeting of the season, the Cardinals were looking to put an end to the Gusties' season-opening eight-game winning streak.
 
Gustavus, however, had other ideas, knocking off the Cardinals 49-45 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Fast-forward 49 days.
 
The Cardinals and Gusties were back for Round 2 Saturday afternoon, and one thing was unchanged—the Gusties had still not been beaten, taking an 18-game season-opening winning streak into the teams' Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rematch.
 
And, unfortunately for coach Brent Pollari, his Cardinals did not fare any better this time around, as Gustavus made Saint Mary's its 19^th straight victim with a 71-44 victory at Gus Young Court.
 
The Cardinals had the upper hand early, getting a 3-pointer from Alex Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) to open the game, and held leads of  5-3 and 7-5, before the high-powered Gusties took charge, closing the first quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 24-16 lead after the game's opening 10 minutes.
 
The Gusties picked up right where they left off in the second stanza, using an 8-1 quarter-opening run as part of a 16-4 second-quarter scoring outburst to take a 38-20 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
And things didn't get much better for Saint Mary's to kick off the second half, as Gustavus outscored the Cardinals 24-9 in the third quarter to take a 62-29 cushion into the game's final 10 minutes. The Cardinals enjoyed their best quarter of the afternoon in the final stanza, outscoring GAC 15-9—including the game's last 10 points—but it was too little, too late.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinals, scoring 15 points and adding nine rebounds, while Brigette Audette (Big Lake, Minn.) chipped in 11 points. The Cardinals shot 36 percent from the field (14-for-39)—including five 3-pointers—but were just 11 of 20 from the free throw line.
 
Gustavus, which got 18 points from Miranda Rice and 17 from Brooke Lemke, knocked down 28 of its 68 field goals attempts (41 percent) and drained 8 of 21 3-pointers.
 
The Cardinals (6-6 MIAC, 12-7 overall) are back on the road on Wednesday, heading to Hamline's Hutton Arena for a 7 p.m. MIAC showdown with the Pipers.