TACOMA, Wash... — After watching his Saint Mary's University women's basketball team struggle to shoot just 35 percent from the field in their season-opening 74-60 loss to Whitworth at the Puget Sound Tip-Off Classic, coach Dan Messmann must have figured it couldn't get any worse.

Fortunately for Messmann, it didn't in SMU's second game of the two-day tournament.

But it wasn't much better — and it wasn't enough to give SMU its first win of the season.

The Cardinals shot an impressive 43 percent from the field in the first half of Saturday's game against host Puget Sound, and held a three-point, 31-28 advantage at the break. From there, however, things went cold — ice cold — for SMU, as the Cardinals connected on just 8 of 25 field goal attempts, including 3-for-14 from beyond the 3-point line, as Puget Sound rallied for a 58-54 victory.

Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) scored a game-high 26 points, hitting 7 of 11 field goal attempts, while adding a perfect 9-for-9 performance from the free throw line. Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) added 10 points, while Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) finished with a team-leading 10 rebounds.