A year ago, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's basketball team reached several milestones originally set by one of the best Cardinal basketball teams in program history—the 1985-86 squad.
 
• The Cardinals closed out the 2013-14 season with a school-record tying 24 wins—equaling the mark set by the 1985-86 team.
 
• The 2013-14 Saint Mary's squad captured its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title in 28 years, since the Cardinals went 20-2 in conference play in 1985-86.
 
• Saint Mary's earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III national tournament a year ago, marking the first time since the 1985-86 squad posted a third-place national tournament finish.
 
• And the Cardinals' 16-game winning streak last season was the longest since Saint Mary's put together a 19-game win streak during … you guessed it, 1985-86.
 
But there was one feat last year's squad could not accomplish—that had to wait until this season.
 
Until Tuesday night, to be exact.
 
Thanks to their 64-49 nonconference win over UW-La Crosse, the Cardinals pushed their season-opening winning streak to six straight—the longest since the aforementioned 1985-86 team opened the season with 19 consecutive wins.
 
UW-La Crosse got out of the gates early, scoring the game's first four points and owning an early 7-4 advantage. Saint Mary's, however, used a 9-0 run to take a 13-7 lead and the Cardinals did not let the Eagles get closer than two points in rolling to an eight-point, 27-19 halftime lead.
 
And over the game's final 20 minutes, the Cardinals kept the Eagles at bay.
 
UW-La Crosse inched to within four, 32-28, early in the second half, but the Cardinals used an 11-1 run to turn that four-point lead into a 14-point, 43-29, cushion midway through the half.
 
The Eagles once again chipped away at the Cardinal advantage, closing to within five, 49-44—but again Saint Mary's had an answer, scoring eight unanswered points to regain a 13-point advantage, 57-44, with three minutes left on the clock.
 
Natalie Larson (North Branch, Minn.) and Emma Schaefer (Falcon Heights, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinal offense, each scoring 14 points. Larson's career-high 14 points came on 6 of 10 shooting from the field—including a perfect 2-for-2 showing from behind the 3-point line—while Schaefer finished 4 of 9 from the field, and added a 6-for-10 effort from the free throw line. Molly O'Toole (Plymouth, Minn.) added 11 points, and Bridget Pethke (New London, Wis.) recorded six assists.
 
MaKenzie Miller netted a game-high 15 points to lead a trio of Eagle scorers in double figures, with Maggi Bishop adding 14 points and Elise DeNoyer tallying 10.
 
The Cardinals (6-0 overall)—ranked No. 17 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 and USA Today Sports Coaches Poll—are now off until Dec. 3, when they kick off their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 7 p.m. game against Hamline at Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn.