WINONA, Minn. — So much for the third time being the charm.

Or even the 38th time.

The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament opener hoping to settle a few scores with St. Thomas.

After all, the Tommies escaped with a pair of hard-fought victories in the teams' two regular season meetings. A six-point (66-60) setback in the first meeting between the two teams on Dec. 11 and a four-point (76-72) loss in the rematch in early February, had SMU confident the third time around was going to be itstime.

It wasn't.

St. Thomas rallied from an early 17-7 deficit, led by eight at halftime and outscored the Cardinals 45-38 over the game's final 20 minutes en route to a 74-59 victory — extending UST's winning streak over the Cardinals to 38 straight games.

"We came out and played awesome for the first 10 minutes," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "Our game plan was working, and it seemed like everything we wanted to do worked. Then, we missed a few easy baskets and lost our confidence.

"From there, we let (St. Thomas) take control and they took it to us."

After jumping out to their 10-point advantage, SMU managed just four points over the final 9:52 of the first half, as UST used a 20-4 run to take a 29-21 lead into the lockerroom at the half.

Things just seemed to go from bad to worse for the Cardinals as St. Thomas opened the second half with a 20-7 run to take a commanding 49-28 advantage midway through the half.

"You have to give St. Thomas a lot of credit," Messmann said. "We jumped on them early, but they never let down — and during that (40-11) stretch in the middle of the game, they played very well. The problem was, they got on that roll, and we just didn't have any answers."

Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) posted her second straight double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds to lead the way for SMU, which had its two-game winning streak snapped and ended its season with an 11-15 overall record. Keri Drake (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) chipped in 12 points and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) finished with 10 for the Cardinals.

Kristi Huegel's game-high 18 points led the way for UST, which improves to 15-11 overall and moves on to face top-seeded Carleton in Wednesday's semifinal.

"It's a tough way to end the season," admitted Messmann. "But there were still so many positives this season that one loss isn't going to overshadow that.

"One of our main goals this year was to make it back ot the (MIAC) tournament, we did that. Another was to make sure that we were playing our best basketball at the end of the year, and I think we were," continued Messmann. "This is a very young team (no seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen), so we've got a lot to look forward to in the future."

* THIS AND THAT: The loss to UST marked the third straight year that SMU was eliminated from the conferenece tournament in the first round. … Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) recorded her second straight double-double — and eighth of the season — with 17 points and 12 rebounds vs. St. Thomas. … After scoring in double figures just once in SMU's first 24 games, Keri Drake (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) notched her second straight 12-point effort in SMU's loss to the Tommies. … Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) scored 10 points vs. UST, extending her season-high double-figure scoring streak to six games. … Rattunde's 100 steals this season are a school record, breaking the mark of 98 previously held by Shannon Martin. … Rattunde's 122 free throws are also a new school record, breaking the old mark (113) held by Mary Schultz. … Rattunde's team-leading 15.0 ppg average made her one of three SMU players to close out the season averaging in double figures. Luehmann (11.7 ppg) and Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 10.0 ppg) are the other two. … As a team, SMU shot 39 percent from the field (572-for-1459) and 69 percent from the free-throw line (334-for-479). … After opening the season with eight losses in their first 10 games, the Cardinals won nine of their last 16 games.