Photos of SMU-St. Olaf game / click here

WINONA, Minn. — It's been more than a week since members of the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team celebrated Christmas, but the Cardinals were still in a giving mood Wednesday evening.

Literally.

The Cardinals turned the ball over 26 times— including 18 times in the first half — and St. Olaf took advantage, turning those 26 "gifts" into 18 points, as the Oles cruised to a 63-45 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

Despite their inability to hold on to the ball, the Cardinals managed to take a two-point, 28-26 advantage into the locker room at the half — thanks in large part to the play of Kelly Tanke (La Crosse, Wis.).

The SMU junior knocked down 6 of her 10 first-half field goal attempts — and scored the first seven points of the game as SMU jumped out to a 7-0 lead — en route to a 13-point first-half outburst.

Tanke & Co. found little room to move in the second half, as St. Olaf's stifling defense held the Cardinals (1-4 MIAC, 3-5 overall) to just 17 points over the game's final 20 minutes. The Oles, meanwhile, found their shooting touch in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field (16-for-27) and scoring 37 points.

Tanke was the lone Cardinal to score in double figures, settling for a game-high 15 points, while Christina Sampson netted 13 points and Holly Grimsrud and Kristina Stoermer each added 11 as the Oles snapped their season-opening seven-game losing streak.