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2004-05 Record: 12-6 MIAC / 16-6 Overall
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| Last Week's Results: Saint Mary's 61, St. Benedict 54 / Details Saint Mary's 75, Hamline 62 / Details St. Thomas 72, Saint Mary's 61 / Details |
| Upcoming Games: Wed., Feb. 16: Saint Mary's at Carleton, 7:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 19: St. Olaf at Saint Mary's, 1 p.m. |
| This and That: SMU's 61-54 win over St. Benedict last Monday snapped the Cardinals' 35-game losing streak vs. the Blazers. … SMU's 71-62 loss to St. Thomas on Saturday, meanwhile, snapped the Cardinals' four-game winning streak, not to mention their three-game winning streak vs. UST. … Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) missed out on her fifth straight double-double by one rebound vs. Hamline (20 points, 9 rebounds) on Wednesday. … Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) has now scored in double figures in 10 straight games. … Rattunde netted a season-high 27 points in SMU's loss to St. Thomas. … SMU went 2-0 at home last week, pushing their record to 7-2 at the SMU Gym. … Rattunde (19.7 ppg) and Luehmann (17.7 ppg) both averaged in double figures last week. … SMU has outscored its opponents by 125 points in the first half … SMU's 16 wins with two regular-season games left are one short of a year ago, when SMU went 17-9 — the most wins since the Cardinals went 21-3 and placed third in the NCAA regional tournament in 1985-86. |
WINONA, Minn. — With three games remaining in the regular season and an invitation to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament already tucked away in their back pocket, there was still plenty at stake as the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team squared off against St. Thomas.
For the Cardinals, it was that elusive home playoff opener — something SMU has yet to have during its four straight MIAC tournament appearances.
For the Tommies, it was that sixth and final playoff spot.
When the final horn sounded last Saturday afternoon, it was the Tommies who were one step closer to joining the MIAC postseason party — taking the wind out of the Cardinals' home playoff sails in the process — as UST used a 24-6 run early in the second half to hand SMU a 71-62 setback.
"The effort was there, we were just a little flat," said SMU coach Dan Messmann. "It's been a tough road — four emotional games in the last seven days. It's almost expected that sooner or later we were going to have a letdown. It's just too bad it had to happen in such a big game."
Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) scored a game- and season-high 27 points for the Cardinals, who led 33-27 at the half and 35-27 early in the second half, only to have UST hit four 3-pointers to fuel a 24-6 run that turned that eight-point lead into a 10-point, 51-41, deficit with 11:11 to play.
SMU pulled to within three, 52-49 on a 3-pointer by Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.), but they could get no closer as St. Thomas knocked down 9 of 12 free throws in the final 3:40 to ice the win.
Luehmann chipped in 14 points for the Cardinals, who had a pair of winning streaks — their current four-game winning streak, not to mention a three-gamer vs. the Tommies — snapped with the loss.
With the loss, SMU falls to 16-6 in the MIAC and remains a half game in front of Gustavus for the No. 4 spot in the conference standings. SMU still has to play at league-leading Carleton (16-2 MIAC) on Wednesday, before closing out the season at home against St. Olaf (7-11 MIAC), while the Gusties close out their season with a single game at St. Benedict (14-4 MIAC) next Saturday.
"It would have been great to come away with a win, but what was nice was, (in the race for the home playoff berth), we ended the day right where we started it," said Messmann, noting that Gustavus also lost on Saturday, falling to Augsburg 69-65. "We knew going in that our magic number was two (any combination of SMU wins and Gustavus losses) — and with Gustavus' loss, we got it down to one."
Which means a win Wednesday at Carleton or at home vs. St. Olaf on Saturday is all it will take for SMU to be home to open the playoffs.
"Obviously, this is a big week for us," said Messmann, whose team fell to both the league-leading Knights (57-42) and the Oles (58-51) in their first meeting this season. "We know what's at stake, and we know what we have to do — now it's just a matter of going out and getting the job done."