Box Score
After coming off a late-game win against Stephens College ten days ago, the St. Catherine University basketball team hoped to carry that momentum over to its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) home opener against Carleton College.
Unfortunately, the Knights used a 16-8 run in the game's final six minutes to hand the Wildcats a 75-62 MIAC setback, Wednesday night at the
Butler Center.
The game opened with back-and-forth play through the first eight minutes, before Carleton took control to lead 25-19 with less than five minutes to play in the half. The Wildcats put together an impressive 7-0 run to head into the break down 27-29.
The Wildcats took the lead twice in the first three minutes of the second half, but failed to maintain it as the Knights used a 7-2 run to go up 48-41 with 11 minutes to play.
Though it appeared the Wildcats might make a comeback as they pulled within one with 8:26 to play, the Wildcats didn't have enough to stop the Knight offense as Carleton slowly started to pull away en route to victory.
For the second-straight game, Sarah Mong (Page, Ariz.) proved to be the Wildcats' most valuable offensive weapon as she scored a game-high 20 points and was 9-for-11 from the field. The sophomore is averaging 15 points per game, which ranks third overall in the MIAC.
Mong also added five rebounds, four assists and a steal in the loss and went 2-for-2 from the line.
After going just 1-for-8 in the first half, Saraina Baker (Plymouth, Minn.) put together an impressive second half, scoring 17 points to finish the game with her first double-double of the 2012-13 season. Baker, who was the Wildcats' leading scorer from a year ago, finished the night with 19 points, 11 boards and three steals.
Jenna Mistler (Austin, Texas) contributed to the Wildcats' 51.9 percent shooting in the second half as she went 4-for-5 from the field. She added 11 points to the Wildcat offensive strike and also had seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
Akemi Arzouman led the way for the Knights with 17 points, while first-year Megan Chavez had 11. Arzouman was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field in the second half and also made one of the Knights four second-half 3-pointers that put a Wildcat comeback out of reach.
The Wildcats fall to 1-2 under new coach
Sean Pinkerton and will head to Winona, Minn., Saturday afternoon to take on a perfect 3-0 Saint Mary's University. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Wildcats on Twitter
Wildcats on Facebook
Wildcat Basketball on Facebook
