ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jess Miller recorded her 1,000th career point on her final field goal attempt during Wednesday's 76-57 win over St. Catherine, and the Saint Mary's University senior picked up right where she left off on Saturday, draining the Cardinals' first three field goals.

Unfortunately for coach Mandy Pearson, the rest of the Cardinals didn't get off to the same sizzling start, as SMU managed just eight points through the first 15 minutes and never recovered, falling to Hamline 57-51 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Sutton Arena.

After Miller's third field goal of the half knotted the game at 6-6, Hamline pushed its lead to 17-8 with 10:28 remaining in the first half — and completed its 11-2 run with two more field goals to lead 21-8 with 5:24 left. The Cardinals' shooting touch began to unthaw later, as SMU scored 10 of the final 17 points of the half to cut the margin to 10, 28-18.

SMU continued to whittle away at the Pipers' lead, scoring the first six points of the second half to get within six, 28-22. The Cardinals got as close as four twice, 41-37 and 43-39 — the second time on a Miller jumper with 3:28 remaining. The Pipers, however, responded with a 12-4 run to go up by 12, 55-43, with less than a minute remaining to seal the win.

Miller finished with a game-high 22 points marking the third straight game in which the Cardinal senior has eclipsed the 20-point barrier. Miller knocked down 10 of 17 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Emily DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn.) drained a pair of treys en route ot an eight-point showing.

Mary Wilkowski scored 19 points and Stephanie Robinson added 10 for the Pipers, who shot 38 percent from the field (21-for-55) in snapping the Cardinals' season-high three-game winning streak.

The Cardinals, who fall to 5-4 in the MIAC and 7-5 overall, are back in action on Monday, when they host Saint Benedict in a 7:30 p.m. conference contest at the SMU Gym.