Game Summary / GameDay Preview

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team's road to the MIAC playoffs hit a speed bump Monday evening.

The Cardinals entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at St. Catherine a half-game behind Macalester for the sixth and final conference playoff spot.

A win over the Wildcats, and SMU would pull even with the idle Scots with two regular-season games remaining.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats proved to be rather ungracious hosts, as St. Catherine rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit to beat the Cardinals, 70-60.

Jess Miller (Carver, Minn.) scored 10 first-half points, as SMU took a two-point, 26-24, lead into the locker room at the half.

The Cardinals pushed that lead to 11, 38-27, with a 12-3 run in the opening six minutes of the second half. St. Catherine, however, responded with a 13-2 run of its own to tie the game at 40-40 with 11:22 remaining in regulation.

The game was tied again, 47-47, before the Wildcats used a 10-3 burst to grab a 57-50 advantage. Cherie Kulig (Independence, Wis.) capped a 6-0 SMU run with four straight free throws to make it a two-point game, 58-56, with 2:50 on the clock.

That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as St. Catherine scored 12 of the game's final 16 points to seal the win.

Miller — who scored 21 points in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 12 to become the ninth player in SMU women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-career point mark — posted her second 21-point effort against the Wildcats on Monday. Kulig, meanwhile, chipped in 11 points.

With the loss, the Cardinals head into the final two games of the regular-season trailing Macalester by a full game. SMU (9-11 MIAC) closes out with road games at playoff-bound Saint Benedict (15-5) on Wednesday and at Gustavus (13-7) on Saturday, while Macalester faces Carleton (4-16) Wednesday and Bethel (11-9) on Saturday.