ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. — If coach Mandy Pearson was worried about any type of letdown—either mental or physical—as the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team squared off against Crown in their second game in as many days, the Cardinals quickly put them to rest.
 
Very quickly.
 
Saint Mary's scored the game's first nine points and led 19-2 early and never took their foot off the accelerator, cruising to a 73-38 nonconference win—and a perfect 5-0 start to the season.
 
The Cardinals—who scored a school record 107 points in their first-ever meeting against Crown a year ago, a 107-27 Saint Mary's victory—put the game out of reach early, building leads as big as 24 points (30-6) in the opening 20 minutes, en route to a 33-16 halftime advantage.
 
And it was more of the same for Saint Mary's in the second half.
 
Saint Mary's never let the Storm get closer than 19 points over the game's final 20 minutes—and held leads of 29 or more over the final 8:30 in cruising to the nonconference victory.
 
Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) and Micaela Meredith (Bloomington, Minn.) scored 11 points and Shelby Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn.) chipped in 10 for the Cardinals, who got at least two points from 14 of the 15 players who saw playing time. Kayla Lardy (Fairmont, Minn.) hauled in a career-high 10 of Saint Mary's 43 rebounds, and Meredith and Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) each dished out five assists.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 43 percent from the field (27-for-62) and knocked down 9 of 20 3-pointers, while going 10-for-18 from the free throw line.
 
 Desiree Davis scored 10 points and added nine rebounds in the losing effort for Crown (0-5 overall).
 
The Cardinals are back in action—and back on the road—on Tuesday, traveling to La Crosse, Wis., for a 5:30 p.m. nonconference game against UW-La Crosse.