CARDINAL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HOME
(http://sports.smumn.edu/w_basketball)
Cardinal Roster
Cardinal Statistics
Cardinal Schedule
MIAC Standings
2006-2007 Records:
0-2 MIAC, 2-3 Overall
Last Week's Results:
St. Thomas 86, Saint Mary's 35 / Details
Saint Benedict 77, Saint Mary's 54 / Details
Upcoming Games:
Mon., Dec. 4: Macalester at SMU, 7:45 p.m.
Wed., Dec. 6: SMU at Hamline, 7:45 p.m.
Cardinal News and Notes:
SMU's losses to St. Thomas and Saint Benedict marked the first time all season that the Cardinals have lost back-to-back games. … Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.) netted a team-best 11 points in SMU’s loss to St. Thomas. … SMU was held without a double-figure scorer vs. Saint Benedict. … Tanke is the Cardinals’ scoring leader (8.8 ppg), while Jess Weisbrod (Rollingstone, Minn.) boasts a team best 5.4 rebounds-per-game. … The Tommies’ 86 points were the most allowed by SMU this season — and the most since surrendering 86 points in an 86-60 loss to Gustavus on Jan. 10, 2004. … The Cardinals were held to four second-half field goals vs. the Tommies, while managing just eight field goals and 18 points in the first half of their loss to Saint Benedict. … UST forced a season-high 35 SMU turnovers, marking the second time in four games that the Cardinals have turned the ball over 30 or more times in a game. … SMU's 54 points vs. Saint Benedict were the most since the Cardinals opened the season with a 56-43 win over Willamette.
SMU is eager to forget opening week of MIAC play
following back-to-back losses against UST, CSB

Kelly
Tanke
11 points
vs. St. Thomas
WINONA, Minn. — For Shawn Stimmel, his inaugural season as the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team's head coach has already been a year of firsts.

There was that first win — a 56-43 triumph vs. Willamette in the Cardinals' season-opener.

Then came his first loss — a 52-38 decision vs. Lewis & Clark in Game 2 of the Bon Appetite Classic.

Stimmel and the Cardinals suffered their first conference loss last Wednesday, a disappointing 86-35 setback at the hands of St. Thomas.

And, unfortunately for the SMU head coach, last Saturday's game vs. Saint Benedict resulted in another first — the Cardinals' first two-game losing streak.

The Blazers jumped out to a commanding 48-18 first-half advantage and never looked back in cruising to a 77-54 victory over the Cardinals at the SMU Gym.

"We did not play very well in the first half, and when you are going up against a team as good as (Saint Benedict), you can't afford to struggle from the field the way we did in the first half," said Stimmel, whose team made just 8 of 24 shots, while the Blazers knocked down 19 of their 28 first-half shots, building leads en route to their commanding 30-point advantage. "I thought we came out and played much better in the second half, but when you are down by as many as we were, it's pretty tough to come back."

Amy Saufferer (Morristown, Minn.) and Alyse Coates (West St. Paul, Minn.) led the Cardinals' offensive charge, scoring nine points each, while CSB got a game-high 16 points from Darby Noreen and 11 from Ellie Boone.

"This was definitely a tough way to start the conference season — with two of the top teams right off the bat," said Stimmel. "But I'm encouraged by the way we kept working — the ladies never quit.

"We talked at halftime (vs. Saint Benedict) about the importance of going out and continuing to work on executing the things (the coaches) are asking them to do, and they did that, which is definitely a positive step."