WINONA, Minn. — The first 13 games of the season were filled with uncertainties for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, yet there was one constant during the Cardinals' topsy-turvy first half: when Jaimie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) was held under 10 points, SMU was in big trouble.

Only twice through the team's first 13 games had the Cardinals' sophomore sharpshooter been held in single digits, but each time the end result was not pretty:

• Six points vs. St. Benedict — an 83-60 loss.

• Three points two days later against Carleton — another lopsided setback, this time by a 78-37 margin.

Last Saturday against St. Catherine, Rattunde was once again held in check, as SMU's leading scorer managed just a pair of field goals and three free throws in finishing with seven points.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) and Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn.) picked up the slack, as SMU posted its second straight win, beating St. Catherine 67-60.

"Jamie's played well for us all season, but St. Catherine did a nice job of shutting her down, and we got some other players to step up and get the job done," said SMU coach Dan Messmann, who watched Rattunde at her usual best last Wednesday, when she scored a game-high 19 points in leading the Cardinals to a 50-45 win over Augsburg. "Our focus (against St. Catherine) was on defense and I thought we did a very good job defensively."

And while the defense did its part — holding the Wildcats to just just 27 percent shooting from the field — Luehmann & Co. did their job on the other end of the floor.

Luehmann tossed in a game-high 21 points, hitting 7 of 10 field goals — including 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point line — and adding a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. Arrington chipped in 16 points and Lee tallied 13. SMU has now put together its longest winning streak since back-to-back wins over Hamline (65-51) and St. Olaf (60-44) on Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, respectively.

St. Catherine held the upper hand early, riding a 12-for-14 performance from the free-throw line to take a four-point, 29-25 halftime advantage. SMU turned the tables in the second half, hitting on 12 of 13 free throws and shooting 48 percent from the field (13-for-27) in outscoring St. Catherine 42-31 to secure the win.

"We played well in the first half, did the things we wanted to do, but we did not shoot the ball well, and it hurt us a bit," said Messmann. "We got our shots to fall a bit more in the second half and we continued to play sound defense.

"Two get two wins on the road is a huge boost for us," said Messmann. "It's never easy to play on the road in this conference — and to come away with two wins is huge."

* THIS AND THAT: The Cardinals' two-game winning streak matches their longest of the season. … SMU's wins over Augsburg and St. Catherine last week were its first road wins of the season. … Last week's two games were also the first two of five straight road games for the Cardinals, who travel to Concordia, Hamline and St. Olaf this week. … Jaimie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.), who leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg), was held under 10 points for just the third time this season vs. St. Catherine. … Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), who scored a game-high 21 points vs. St. Catherine, and Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn.) are also averaging in double figures at 10.8 ppg and 10.5 ppg, respectively. … All five of SMU's wins have come in conference play.