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The Matchup: Saint Mary's vs. Macalester

vs.

Wednesday, January 8, 2003
SMU Gym • 5:30 p.m.

MIAC Standings
(Through Tuesday, January 7)
Last Action
The Cardinals failed to land a player in double figures and Carleton led from start to finish en route to a 78-37 win over the Cardinals on Monday. … Macalester, meanwhile, fell victim to an 18-3 Gustavus run late in the second half of a 63-55 Gustie victory.
A Year Ago
Jaimie Lee scored a game-high 17 points as SMU routed Macalester 72-49 in the teams' first meeting a year ago. Macalester, however, turned the talbes on the Cardinals in the rematch with a 63-53 win.
This and That
The Cardinals’ loss to Carleton Monday extended their season-high losing streak to five games. … After scoring in double figures in each of SMU’s first eight games, leading scorer Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) has managed just nine points combined in the Cardinals’ last two games. … Rattunde’s 14.1 ppg average leads a trio of SMU players averaging in double figures. Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 10.9 ppg) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn. / 10.6 ppg) are the others. … Today’s game is SMU’s first home game since Dec. 7 — a span of five straight road games.

GAMEDAY PLAYER PROFILE
Keri Drake

Sophomore / Guard

Hometown
Sturgeon Bay Wis.

Major
Biology

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Snapping out of 4-game funk won't be easy for Cardinals against SJU

WINONA, Minn. — There’s a reason Carleton is currently ranked No. 11 in the latest d3hoops.com national poll, and the Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball team learned that reason firsthand Monday evening.

The Knights are good — very good.
Carleton scored the game’s opening basket, and 16 of the game’s first 18 points, and never looked back as the Knights cruised to a school record-tying 10th straight win with a 78-37 triumph over the Cardinals in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.

“I knew going in that they were going to be a very good team, but they were even better than I expected,” admitted SMU coach Dan Messmann, whose team dropped its fifth straight. “They are certainly deserving of their No. 11 ranking.”

SMU struggled from the field all night, shooting just 22 percent from the floor (11-for-48). The Cardinals’ top three scorers — Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn. / 16.0 ppg average), Jaimie Lee (Eden Prairie, Minn. / 11.5 ppg) and Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn. / 11.5 ppg) — managed just 11 points combined.

“(Carleton) came at us with a half-court press that caused us some problems and never really let us get into the flow of our offense,” Messmann said. “We struggled offensively the whole game — we were just never able to get into any sort of rhythm. And when we did get good looks, we weren’t able to knock them down.”

The Knights certainly didn’t have any trouble knocking down shots, as they shot 50 percent from the field (28-for-56) — and scored more points in the second half (42) than the Cardinals did the entire game.

“It was one of those nights when we couldn’t seem to do anything right,” said Messmann, whose team returns to action tonight, when the Cardinals play host to Macalester in their first home game since Dec. 7. “We need to put this game behind us and focus on Macalester. There’s nothing we can do (about the Carleton loss). As disappointing as our performance was, we’ve got to forget about it and move on.

“One game isn’t going to make our season.”