Thanks to a strong first-half and some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, the St. Kate's basketball team defeated Nebraska Wesleyan 77-73.
Molly Peterson led four Wildcats in double figures with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Peterson, who went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, also hit four free throws in a row for St. Kate's to close out the game.
The Wildcats started strong as they built an 8-2 lead in the first five minutes of action. Nebraska Wesleyan cut the lead to 10-9 before Liza Milless hit a three-pointer that started another 8-2 St. Kate's run.
The Wildcats lead hovered between six and eight points for the next several minutes. Then, a three-pointer and steal by Laura Kalbfell ignited a late rally that expanded the Wildcats lead to 44-31 at halftime.
Kalbfell led the way for the Wildcats in the first half. She had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. St. Kate's ended the first half shooting 60% from the field (18-of-30), including 62.5% (5-of-8) from behind the 3-point line.
The Wildcats started the second-half as strongly as they ended the first-half. They expanded their lead to 17 with just over 16 minutes left to play. From that point on though, Wesleyan began to chip away at the Wildcats lead. Wesleyan's defense tightened up, they also started creating turnovers and out-rebounding the Wildcats. That combination disrupted the Wildcats offensive rhythm, and Shea Rasmussen's hot shooting hand made sure the Wildcats would not be able to walk away with an easy victory.
With just over four minutes left to play Rasmussen hit her third of four three-pointers, and cut the Wildcats lead to two. The teams exchanged points before Jessica Arechigo and Peterson iced the game by hitting eight consecutive free-throws in the final two minutes of the game.
Arechigo's four free-throws were part of strong 14-point, 7-assist night for her. Brooke Hakanson had another nice all-around game as she added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists for the Wildcats. Kalbfell was held scoreless in the second-half, and finished with 16 points.
Overall the Wildcats shot 50% from the field, and 81.8% from the free throw line, including 15-of-19 in the second half.
St. Kate's returns to action on Wednesday December 3, when they open MIAC play against St. Olaf. The game is set to tip off in the Butler Center at 7:30 PM.
Complete Box Score
