Blue Devils tipped by St. Mary's, 74-73, in final non-conference game

St. Mary's University 74, UW-Stout 73 (Box Score) | Photo Gallery | Archived Video

MENOMONIE (January 2, 2016) - Jenna Goldsmith threw a block party, but UW-Stout was edged by Saint Mary's University, 74-73, Saturday at Johnson Fieldhouse.

Goldsmith finished the game with eight total blocks, two short of the school record of 10 set by Kelsey Duoss in 2007. Goldsmith had four blocked shots in each half.

The Cardinals (10-1)  jumped out to a 19-12 first quarter lead, but Stout (6-5) fought back to tie the score at 33-33 at halftime. Trailing 21-14 two minutes into the second stanza, Bailey Diersen scored a lay-up and added a free throw, Shannan Watkins hit a jumper and Goldsmith hit a jumper to tie the score at 21-21 at 6:52. The teams tied five times in the first half.

Stout took the lead out of the locker room on buckets by Danielle Adams and Kyleigh Hebert. The teams then tradied baskets until St. Mary's tied the game at 45-45 with four minutes remaining in the third period. St. Mary's used the free throw line, canning six charity shots and a layup by McKenzie Sommers in the final 2-minutes, 36-seconds of the quarter to take a 55-50 lead, then built up a seven point lead, the biggest lead of the game.

The Blue Devils cut into the lead in the fourth period, pulling to within one on an Adams layup, and took the one point lead on a bucket by Sarah Schoch with 3:03 remaining.

Stout went ahead 68-65 on a basket by Watkins with 1:36 left. The Cardinals knotted the game on a hoop and the harm by Micaela Meredith. Seconds later, Meredith hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. Sam Jones hit the back end of a pair free throws. Watkins pulled Stout to 72-70 with 4.8 seconds remaining.

The Cardinals Bridget Pethke was immediately fouled, and drained both shots for a four point lead. Watkins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.

Meredith and  Brandi Blattner combined for 46 of the Cardinals' points, each scoring 23 points. Blattner finished with a double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds. Meredith had eight rebounds. Sam Jones finished with 10 points as St. Mary's connected on 24-of-69 shots from the floor, 7-of-21 from 3-point range and 19-of-26 from the line.

Diersen scored a team-high 14 oints, followed by Watkins with 11 and Kyleigh Hebert with 10. Goldsmith scored eight points and had eight rebounds to go with her eight blocked shots.

Stout was 30-of-74 from the floor, 2-of-20 from 3-point range and 11-of-21 from the line. Stout recorded 53 rebounds to 45 for St. Mary's.

Stout will open WIAC play when they travel to UW-Whitewater, Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. Stout will host UW-River Falls, Saturday, Jan. 9 at 3 p.m.