Box Score Hamline's women's basketball team plugged away all night but St. Mary's showed why they are nationally ranked by holding off the Pipers for an 80-72 victory at Hutton Arena Wednesday in the MIAC opener for both teams.

Jordan Sammons continued her ascent up the ladder of the HU record books with a 30-point night that moved her into fourth place all-time in scoring with 1433 points. She had a career high eight steals to up her career mark to 229, a mere 19 behind all-time leader Renae Mueller, who played here from 1993-97.

Chelsey Bonsante added 14 points and Chloe Graves (3) chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds.

The Cardinals, the defending regular season MIAC champs, improved to 7-0 overall by shooting 47.5 per cent from the floor and holding a 50-33 rebounding edge.  SMU broke fast, taking a 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of play.  HU fought back to get within a point at 22-21 midway through the half. SMU, ranked No. 14 in one poll and No. 16 in another, then went on an 11-2 run, eventually taking a 43-30 halftime lead.

Hamline surged at the start of the second session, cutting the lead to six at 45-30. But the Cardinals scored the next six points and the Pipers could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.  HU had a season high 15 steals and forced St. Mary's into 25 turnovers but dropped to 3-3 on the season.

Hamline hosts Concordia (4-2 overall, 1-0 MIAC) Saturday at Hutton Arena. Game time is 1:00 p.m.