By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
MOORHEAD, Minn. — With just four games remaining in the regular season—and playoff implications riding on each and every contest—the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team could ill afford any letdowns.
 
 Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) made sure there would be no Cardinal letdown Wednesday evening against Concordia.
 
Keefe scored a career-high 14 points—and Saint Mary's survived scoring just a combined 14 points in the second and third quarters—to drop Concordia 49-44 at Memorial Auditorium.
 
With their win over the Cobbers—and Augsburg's overtime loss to St. Thomas—the Cardinals moved into the fifth spot, one slot ahead of the Auggies, in the race for the final two MIAC Playoff berths with three games remaining.
 
The Cardinals—behind eight first-quarter points from Shayley Vesel (Austin, Minn.) and seven from Keefe—did not waste any time grabbing control against the Cobbers, scoring nine of the game's first 11 points, before settling for a 21-12 lead after the first quarter.
 
Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals their biggest lead of the half, 24-12—an advantage they would match, 29-17, on an Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.) three-point play with 3:02 remaining.
 
Neither team would hit a field goal over the final three minutes of the half—the only point coming on a free throw by Concordia's Kirstin Simmons with six second to play—as the Cardinals took a 29-18 cushion into the locker room at the half.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the third quarter did not follow the same script as the first two, as the Cobbers' offense came to life, scoring 15 of the first 19 points to knot the game at 33-33 with 1:39 remaining—the first time the Cobbers had been tied with the Cardinals since the game started. Rachel Kedl (Lamberton, Minn.) netted her first basket of the game with 37 seconds remaining and CC's Lincoln Haiby hit one of two free throws to make it a one-point, 35-34 Saint Mary's lead heading into the game's final 10 minutes.
 
The Cardinals found themselves staring at their first deficit of the game when Cassidy Rahman opened the fourth quarter with a basket, but a three-point play by Keefe and a layup by Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) put Saint Mary's back in control, 40-36. The Cobbers would cut the deficit to two twice, but four points from Keefe down the stretch sealed the Saint Mary's win—and snapped the Cardinals' two-game losing steak.
 
Keefe finished 5-for-8 from the field—including one 3-pointer—and was 3 of 5 from the free throw line en route to her career-high 14 points, while Blattner chipped in 11 points and Vesel and Winter each added seven.
 
The Cardinals shot 32.7 percent from the field (18-for-55) with four 3-pointers, and went 9 of 16 from the free throw line. The Cobbers—who were led by Haiby with 11 points—finished 17 of 56 (30.4 percent) from the field with 5 3-pointers, and hit 5 of 13 free throws.
 
The Cardinals (8-7 MIAC, 13-9 overall) are back on the road on Saturday, traveling to Macalester's Leonard Center in St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with the Scots.