ST. PETER, Minn. — With three games remaining in the regular season, Saint Mary's University women's basketball coach Dan Messmann figured his team needed to win two of the three to be assured of a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament.

Make that two of two.

Despite a pair of double-double performances from Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) and Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.), the Cardinals couldn't slow down Gustavus, as the Gusties posted their school-record 21st win of the season with a 61-54 decision over the Cardinals Wednesday evening.

Luehmann tossed in a career-high 22 points and added a career-best 11 rebounds — including 10 defensive boards — for her first-ever double-double, while Rattunde netted 16 points and added 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

The Cardinals' duo accounted for 38 of the team's 54 points and 22 of its 35 rebounds.

Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough.

Gustavus jumped out to a 26-22 halftime advantage, and never looked back, outscoring SMU 35-32 over the final 20 minutes in pushing its record to 18-1 in the MIAC and 21-1 overall.

The loss was the second straight for the Cardinals (9-11 MIAC, 9-14 overall), who play host to Augsburg on Saturday, then close out the regular-season next Wednesday against St. Catherine.