Last Action: The Cardinals kicked off the new year in impressive fashion, knocking off cross-town rival Winona State 72-66 Saturday. … Bethel, meanwhile, has been off since Dec. 8, when the Royals had their three-game winning streak snapped with an 84-67 loss to St. Benedict.

A Year Ago: The Cardinals had little trouble sweeping the Royals a year ago. SMU scored 27 of the final 35 points in the first half en route to a 72-61 win on Dec. 8, 2004, then got 23 points from Ashley Luehmann and 22 from Janie Rattunde in an 84-77 victory on Jan. 28, 2004.

This and That:

Jessica Weisbrod Career-high 19 vs. WSU

Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) scored a career-high 19 points vs. Winona State Saturday. … Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.) scored 17 of her 19 points vs. the Warriors in the first half, when she was a perfect 4-for-4 from the 3-point line. … SMU’s OT loss to Concordia right before the Christmast break marked the first OT game for the Cardinals since an 82-80 loss to Carleton on Feb. 10, 2001. … SMU has won the last three meetings vs. Bethel. … The Royals have three players averaging in double figures, led by Jen Ahlberg’s 17.0 ppg average.