WINONA, Minn. — Two weeks ago, Dan Messmann was dreading the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team's next five games.

No so much because of who the Cardinals were about to face, but because all five games were on the road — where SMU had not won a game all season.

Those two weeks have come and gone, and Messmann is certainly singing a different tune — a 4-1 record will do that to a coach.

SMU completed that impressive road swing with a hard-earned 61-56 victory over St. Olaf Saturday afternoon — a game in which Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) recorded her fifth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

"Jamie was really on her game and gave our offense a huge boost," said Messmann, whose team improved to 7-7 in the conference and 7-10 overall with the win — the Cardinals' fourth in their last five games and sixth in their last eight. "This has been a tough stretch for us — to play five straight games on the road, and to win four of them, that's a huge boost. to our confidence."

Not only did their 4-1 road run boost the Cardinals' confidence, but it also boosted their position in the race for the MIAC post-season tournament.

"Obviously, there's still a lot of basketball to be played, but the win over St. Olaf really was a big boost for us in the conference," said Messmann, whose team is currently in fifth place, one half-game back of three teams tied for the No. 4 spot. "Now we get to come back to SMU for a little home cooking."

Hopefully for the Cardinals, home will be as sweet as the road was.

SMU started the week with an impressive 58-46 win at Concordia — a place the Cardinals had not won since Jan. 3, 1985. But thanks to a game-high 21 points from Rattunde, that 18-year streak has come to a close.

Two days later, still basking in the glow of that win over Concordia, the Cardinals came out a bit flat against Hamline — and the Pipers made them pay with a 73-72 victory.

"You have to give Hamline a lot of credit, they shot the ball very well," said Messmann. "We did our part to give the game away, but Hamline never backed down, they just kept making big shot after big shot."

Against the Oles, SMU grabbed a four-point, 26-22 halftime advantage, and outscored the Oles 35-34 over the final 20 minutes — despite hitting just 9 of 17 free throws.

"We didn't shoot particularly well, but we got the job done," said Messmann, whose team will now play six of its final eight games at home, beginning Wednesday against Bethel. "This has been a grueling part of the schedule, and everyone did a great job of staying focused and playing at a high level.

"Now we can't sit back and relax — we put ourselves in a good position (for the post-season), but we've still got a lot of work to do."

* THIS AND THAT: Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) was the game's leading scorer in all three games last week — scoring 21 vs. Concordia, 18 vs. Hamline and 18 against St. Olaf. … Along with her 18 points vs. the Oles, Rattunde also pulled down 13 rebounds, giving her her fifth double-double of the season. … The Cardinals have now won four of their last five games and five of their last seven. … SMU's win over the Cobbers last Monday was the first time the Cardinals have won at Concordia since Jan. 3, 1985. … SMU has scored more than 70 points three times this season — and has lost two of those three games (82-76 vs. Wartburg and 73-72 last Wednesday vs. Hamline). … Rattunde leads three SMU players averaging in double figures with a 14.9 ppg average — Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 10.6 ppg) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn. / 10.2 ppg) are the other two.