11/25/06

St. Scholastica chopped a 10 point halftime deficit to five -- three times -- in the second half against No. 11 UW-Stout but couldn't claw their way any closer in a 70-58 loss to the Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon at the Reif Center in Duluth.

The Saints hung close for much of the first half before a 10-0 run pushed Stout to a 21-9 lead just past the midway point of the half. They closed to within five with 4:50 to play but the Blue Devils ran out the period with another run, this time one of 7-2, and entered halftime with a double-digit lead over the host Saints.

St. Scholastica didn't let Stout -- a Sweet Sixteen finalist in last year's NCAA Championship -- pull away in the early minutes of the second half and cut the lead to five at 10:07 behind a 3-pointer from senior Jessie Stenberg.

Following a Blue Devil jumper, junior Ashley Lubbers got the ball down low and was fouled on her shot, sinking two free throws that would trim the margin to five a second time.

Stout pushed it to seven with another basket but sophomore Katie Cross's drive to the basket resulted in another trip to the free throw line and she, too, converted both shots to pull the Saints to within five for a third time and most assuredly bolster the hopes of a major upset by St. Scholastica.

That was as close as the Saints would get, though, as Stout used a consecutive pair of 3-pointers from Joanna Bird and short jumper from pre-season All-American Kelsey Duoss to push the lead back to double-digits for good.

Stenberg led the Saints with 13 points with senior Heather Saralampi adding 10. Duoss from Stout led all scorers in the game with 15, five points under her season average.

Cross from St. Scholastica pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds in the loss.

The loss evens St. Scholastica's season record at 2-2 while the Blue Devils remain undefeated at 4-0 with the win.