ST. PAUL, Minn. — If their current three-game stretch were an Oreo cookie, Wednesday's game against Hamline would have been the white, creamy filling for the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team.

Fresh off a hard-luck loss to MIAC-power St. Benedict last Saturday — on heading into a showdown with arch-rival St. Thomas on Saturday — the Cardinals were in dire need of a sweet performance against the Pipers.

How sweet it was!

Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) equaled her season high with 21 points, leading five SMU players in double figures as the Cardinals knocked off Hamline 88-78 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.

Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.) got SMU off and running, scoring nine of her 15 points and dishing out seven of her 11 assists in the first half as the Cardinals raced out to a 43-35 halftime advantage.

Hamline scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut the lead to 43-39, and the Pipers cut the lead to four points four more times in the half before SMU used a 12-2 run — capped by three three-pointers from Luehmann — to take a 75-55 edge with 4:53 remaining. The Pipers made one last, late-game charge with a 20-8 spurt, but could get no closer than 83-75 with 1:00 left.

Along with Luehmann's 21 points and Rattunde's third double-double of the season, the Cardinals also got 17 points from Angie Arrington (Spring Grove, Minn.), 12 points from Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) and 11 points from Megan Moran (Burlington, Wis.).