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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2005-2006 Records: 2-4 MIAC, 5-5 Overall |
| Recent Results: Saint Mary's 75, Bethel 73 OT / Details Gustavus 70, Saint Mary's 58 / Details St. Benedict 63, Saint Mary's 33 / Details |
| Upcoming Events: Wed., Jan. 11: Hamline at SMU, 5:45 p.m. Sat., Jan. 14: SMU at St. Thomas, 1 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: Monday’s overtime win against Bethel was the Cardinals’ first since a 77-76 OT loss to Concordia on Dec. 12, 2004 — and SMU’s first overtime win since a 77-73 win over Carleton on Feb. 21, 1998. (SMU went 3-0 in OT games during that 1997-98 season). … Ashley Luehmann (Lewiston, Minn.) was held to just three points vs. St. Benedict, marking just the second time in SMU's 10 games that the senior has not scored at least 10 points. … The Cardinals' loss to Gustavus on Wednesday snapped their season-high three-game winning streak, while Saturday's loss to St. Benedict marked the first time this season SMU has dropped back-to-back games. … SMU's 11 second-half points and 33 total points vs. St. Ben's were a season-low. … Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) scored a season-high 17 points vs. the Gusties, while Sarah Murphy (Belle Plaine, Minn.) pulled down a career-best nine rebounds. … Luehmann, who has netted 25 of the Cardinals' 51 3-point field goals, leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.4 ppg, while Weisbrod is also averaging in double figures at 11.0 ppg. |
back-to-back contests for the first time this season
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Jessica
Weisbrod 10.7 ppg last week; 17 pts. vs. Gustavus |
And when Calla Swenson (Blooming Prairie, Minn.) buried a shot 1:17 into the second half, the Cardinals boasted a one-point, 24-23 advantage.
But when Ellie Boone responded with a bucket of her own seconds later, SMU coach Dan Messmann had a uneasy feeling in his stomach. He feared what might happen — and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The Blazers turned Messmann's fears into reality, rattling off 11 straight points and CSB never looked back, outscoring SMU 40-11 in the second half en route to a 63-33 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory last Saturday at the SMU Gym.
"I don't know what to say — this is becoming a trend that we can't seem to shake," said Messmann, whose team gave up the first 17 points of the second half in a 70-58 loss to Gustavus last Wednesday. "We have the same problem in drills during practice — we'll take a water break and when we come back, we can't seem to refocus. And that's carrying over to the games.
"We've got to find a way to play for 40 minutes."
The Cardinals turned in one of their better halves in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 40 percent from the field, while holding the high-scoring Blazers to just eight field goals and 23 points.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the game of basketball is 40 minutes long, not 20.
Over the game's final 20 minutes, SMU managed just four field goals — Swenson's to open the half, a layup by Jessica Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) at the 15:01 mark, a 3-pointer by Sarah Murphy (Belle Plaine, Minn.) two minutes later, and a jumper by Danielle Dehning (Spring Grove, Minn.) at the 9:07 mark — and failed to score from the field in the game's final nine minutes.
"I don't know what it is — I thought we played awesome in the first half, and then just couldn't do anything right in the second," said Messmann. "We knew (St. Benedict) was going to start hitting some shots, we just weren't able to answer them.
"We've got to starting come up with answers, it's that simple."