By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. ­— Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball coach Brent Pollari knew his Cardinals were going to have their hands full when then took the court against Saint Benedict Saturday afternoon.
 
After all, the Blazers took the Saint Mary's Gym floor sitting atop the conference standings with an unblemished 5-0 record—not to mention riding a six-game winning streak.
 
And with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Cardinals appeared to have the Blazers on the ropes, trailing the league-leaders by just one point.
 
Unfortunately, Pollari and the Cardinals got a first-hand look at why the Blazers are sitting in the MIAC's catbird seat, as CSB used an 8-0 run to turn that one-point advantage into a nine-point cushion en route to dealing Saint Mary's a 60-55 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback.
 
The first half was a tale of two quarters, as Saint Mary's had the upper hand throughout the game's opening 10 minutes taking a six-point, 15-9 advantage.
 
The second quarter, however, was a different story, as it was the Blazers whose offense—and defense—came to life, scoring 13 points, while limiting the Cardinals to just five.
 
CSB grabbed its first lead of the game, 19-17 on a three-point play by Courtney Nelson that was part of an 8-0 run that gave the Blazers a five-point, 22-17 lead with 3:05 remaining. Saint Mary's answered with a 3-pointer by Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) to trim the Saint Benedict lead to 22-20 at the break.
 
And it was more of the same in the second half.
 
The third quarter included a pair of three-point Saint Benedict leads and five ties—the last at 32-32—before the Cardinals closed the quarter with a layup from Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) and a 3-pointer by Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) to give Saint Mary's a five-point, 37-32 lead heading into the game's final quarter.
 
Saint Benedict came out firing to open the fourth quarter, scoring seven straight points to transform that five-point deficit into a two-point, 39-27 lead. Saint Mary's would knot the game at 39-39, 41-41, and 47-47—but the Cardinals could not wrestle the lead away.
 
Trailing by one, 50-49 after an Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) basket, Saint Mary's shooting touch turned cold. And Saint Benedict took advantage, rattling off eight unanswered points to push its lead to 58-49 with 1:14 remaining in regulation.
 
Winter converted a three-point play and Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) drained a jumper to cut the deficit to three, 58-55 with four seconds on the clock, but Sidney Schiffler tossed in a pair of free throws in the final seconds to ice the victory.
 
Blattner scored 15 points and hauled in 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season to pace the Cardinals, while Huisman chipped in 13 points and eight boards.
 
The Cardinals shot 33 percent from the field (20-for-61), but were just 5 of 24 from behind the 3-point line. Saint Mary's also made 10 of its 12 free throws and held a 43-33 rebounding advantage.
 
Chelsey Guetter and Megan Thompson each scored a game-high 17 points ot lead the way for the Blazers—who won for the sixth time in six road games this season. CSB shot 37 percent from the field—including 73 percent (8-for-11) with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter—and were 19 of 24 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (2-4 MIAC, 7-6 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as Saint Mary's heads to Gustavus' Gus Young Court for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Gusties