WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Dan Messmann might want to consider setting up a meeting with the scheduling gods and ask them one simple question: What did he do to deserve a stretch like this?

For the third time in the last seven days, Messmann's Cardinals squared off against a nationally ranked team Saturday afternoon.

And, unfortunately for SMU, for the third straight time, the Cardinals came out on the short end of a rather lopsided affair as 15th-ranked Gustavus pushed its unbeaten record to a school-record 11-0 with a 74-50 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at the SMU gym.

"This was a tough, tough stretch," admitted Messman. "Gustavus is a very good team, but I thought we showed in the second half that we could play with them. (Gustavus) just came out so fast in the first half, we never were able to recover."

The Cardinals, who snapped a two-game losing streak that included losses to top 10 teams St. Benedict (79-57) and Carleton (78-37) with a 73-43 triumph over Macalester last Wednesday, started slow and never got their offense on track against the high-powered Gusties.

The Gusties put the game out of reach early, scoring the game's first seven points and 15 of the first 17 — and they never looked back, racing out to a 43-19 halftime advantage.

GAC shot a blistering 63 percent from the field during their 43-point first-half outburst, and missed just one of their four 3-point attempts. SMU, meanwhile, sank just eight field goals over the game's opening 20 minutes, and were just 1-for-8 from beyond the 3-point line.

"They made their shots, especially early, and we just didn't respond," said Messmann. "We were much better in the second half, but by that time we had dug ourselves such a big hole there was no way we could get out of it."

Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) accounted for 32 of SMU's 54 points — with Rattunde scoring 17 and Luehmann adding 15 — as the Cardinals dropped to 3-6 in the MIAC and 3-9 overall.

"We didn't play as well as we are capable, and that's the frustrating part," admitted Messman. "This is a tough conference and every game is going to be a battle — we have to be ready for whatever gets thrown at us."

Like their upcoming five-game road trip.

"Our schedule certainly hasn't been too accomodating," joked Messmann, whose team played five straight games on the road, returned for Wednesday's game vs. Macalester and Saturday's vs. Gustavus, and now must travel to Augsburg (Wednesday), St. Catherine (Saturday), Concordia (Monday), Hamline (Jan. 22) and St. Olaf (Jan. 25). "This is going to be a key stretch. These are all games against teams fighting for the same thing we are — one of those spots in the conference tournament.

"We need to come out ready to play."

* THIS AND THAT: Saturday's matchup vs. Gustavus marked the third time in SMU's last four games that they have faced a nationally ranked team. … Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) netted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and adding 11 rebounds in SMU's win over Macalester last Wednesday. … The Cardinals' 73 points vs. Macalester marked their second-highest offensive output of the season. … On the flip side, in last Monday's loss to Carleton, the Cardinals' 37 points marked their lowest offensive output. … Wednesday's win over Macalester snapped a seeason-high five-game losing streak. … All three of SMU's wins this season have come at home. … Rattunde's 14.2 ppg scoring average leads three SMU players averaging in double figures. Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn. / 10.8 ppg) and Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 10.2 ppg) are the other two.