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2004-05 Record: 8-5 MIAC / 12-5 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 74, Augsburg 62 / Details Concordia 65, Saint Mary's 63 / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Wed., Feb. 2: Saint Mary's at Bethel, 7:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 5: Saint Mary's at Gustavus, 1 p.m. |
| This and That: Sunday's two-point loss to Concordia snapped the Cardinals' two-game winning streak and was the third straight time the Cobbers have beaten SMU. … SMU is now winless in its last three trips to Concordia. … Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds vs. the Cobbers en route to her fifth double-double of the season. … Rattunde's 24 points were one shy of her season high, while her 11 rebounds equaled her season best. … Rattunde has now led the team in scoring in each of the Cardinals' last three games, averaging 23.3 ppg during that stretch. … Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) has scored in double figures in six straight games. … Rattunde now leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg), while Luehmann (14.8 ppg) and Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn. / 14.0 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. … Since opening the season with five straight wins, SMU has not won more than three in a row. … SMU has outscored its opponents by nearly 100 points in the first half (587-489). |
WINONA, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team, memories of playing against Concordia have not been too memorable of late.
Last year, the Cardinals traveled to Concordia for the opening round of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament and were eliminated by the Cobbers, 73-65.
In their first meeting this season, the Cobbers' Anne Keeley nailed a 3-point basket with 30 seconds left in overtime and SMU had two field goal attempts blocked in the waning seconds as Concordia escaped with a 77-76 overtime win.
Last Sunday afternoon, it was more heartbreak for the Cardinals, as Concordia rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit, and secured its third-straight win over SMU, 65-63, when Jamie Rattunde's (Rollingstone, Minn.) jumper at the buzzer failed to drop.
"It's always tough to go up there and play," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "(Concordia) played well — it was a good, competitive game from start to finish."
The Cardinals could do no wrong in the first half, shooting 53 percent from the field (18-for-34) and scoring the final six points of the half to take what seemed like a commanding 43-32 advantage into the locker room at the half.
In the second half, however, SMU could do no right, as Concordia scored 11 unanswered points to tie the game 43-43 with 17:07 remaining in regulation. The Cardinals grabbed a four-point, 58-54 lead on a three-pointer by Angie Arrington (Sprig Grove, Minn.), but the Cobbers responded with six of the next eight points to tie the game a final time, 60-60, with 1:57 left.
Over that final two minutes, the Cobbers reeled off five straight points to take a 65-60 lead, then hung on as Megan Moran (Burlington, Wis.) drilled a three-pointer and Arrington stole the inbound pass with 19 seconds remaining to give SMU one shot to send the game into overtime. The Cardinals got the ball to Rattunde — who scored a game-high 24 points and added 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season — but the SMU senior's shot missed its mark.
"We played a phenomenal first half – probably the best all-around performance we've had all year," said Messmann. "Then we came out flat in the first three minutes of the second half, and before you know it, they go on an 11-0 run and the game is tied.
"It's a disappointing loss — especially because we played so well in that first half," continued Messmann. "But we can't afford to worry too much about it, there's way too much basketball still to be played.
"Right now we've got to find a way to be more consistent — we need to play like we did in the first half for a full 40 minutes. If we can do that, we're going to be tough to stop."