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Wednesday, January 14, 2004 |
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(Through Tuesday, January 13) |
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The Cardinals are coming off an 86-60 loss to Gustavus last Saturday. … Augsburg, meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak with a 73-64 win over St. Olaf. |
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SMU cruised to a pair of wins vs. Augsburg in the teams' series a year ago, winning 50-45 on Jan. 15, and 69-45 on Feb. 15. |
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Angie Arringston (Spring Grove, Minn.) scored 21 points vs. both Carleton and Gustavus, and finished with a team-leading 18.7 ppg average in SMU's three games last week. … Arrington's 21 points were one short of her career high. … Ashley Luehmann's (Lewiston, Minn.) 14.8 ppg. average leads a trio of Cardinals who are averaging in double figures this season. Arrington (13.7 ppg) and Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn. / 13.3 ppg) are the other two. … Gustavus' 86 points were the most given up by the Cardinals this season. … The 26-point loss was also a season high. |
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Year Hometown |
WINONA, Minn. — As memorable as the first half ot the season has been for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, this past week is one they probably would like to forget.
In their three games over the past seven days, the Cardinals have faced two of the top teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and another which hasn't won a game in its last 19 tries.
The Cardinals had little trouble dispatching of Macalester last Wednesday, handing the Scots loss No. 18 of 19 in a row with a 66-44 victory.
But against the MIAC's best, the Cardinals must have felt a little like a fish out of water.
Carleton, last year's MIAC regular-season and tournament champion, beat up on SMU 67-55 last Monday, and Gustavus — unbeaten in eight conference games this season — completed SMU's forgettable week wtih an 86-60 thumping on Saturday.
"(The Gustavus game) was probably the first game all year that we just did not play well from start to finish," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "Gustavus came out and pressed us right away, forced us to turn the ball over on our first three possessions, and we just never regained our composure.
"You've got to give Gustavus a lot of credt, they are a very good team and they played very well. But at the same time, we definitely didn't play as well as we are capable."
The Gusties jumped out early and headed into the locker room at halftime with a commanding 40-30 advantage. And it was more of the same in the second half, as Gustavus — which moved to 10-1 overall — shot 46 percent from the field (13-for-28) and hit 19 of 24 free throws over the game's final 20 minutes in handing SMU's its most lopsided loss of the season.
"We hung in there as best we could," said Messmann, whose team actually cut the Gusties lead to three, 47-44, with 13 minutes remaining in the second half. "But it was like being in a bus that was going downhill 100 miles an hour with no brakes — we were just out of control."
Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) scored a game-high 21 points in the losing effort for SMU (5-3 MIAC, 6-5 overall), just missing her career-high by one point for the second time in three games. Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) chipped in 13 points, while Angie Peterson scored 15 points to lead four Gustavus players in double figures.
"Nobody likes to lose, but this was a perfect example of the importance of being ready to play — and play to the best of your ability — every day," said Messmann. "Hopefully the message got across and we could out ready (tonight against Augsburg)."