Coming off a two-game win streak to capture the Emerson College Tournament title, the St. Catherine University basktball team was hoping to extend that streak as it played in front of a home crowd for the first this season. After a back-and-forth battle with UW-Stout, the Wildcats eventually fell 77-70 to the Blue Devils late in the game despite a late-game surge of offense Thursday evening in the Butler Center.

After a first half that saw 30 combined turnovers between the two teams and less-than-ideal shooting, the Wildcats narrowly found themselves with a 31-30 edge at halftime against a UW-Stout squad that forced a quick pace of play throughout the game. The Wildcats slowly saw their lead drift away in the second half, though, as UW-Stout managed to tie the game at 34-34 and used a 15-4 run over the next 6:12 to take a 12-point lead at the 11:35 mark. 

The Wildcats responded quickly with several strong 3-point shots and managed to string together a couple of quick runs before eventually tying the game at 63-63 with 3:47 to play. But with 3:09 to play, the Blue Devils knocked down five points in 30 seconds before forcing the Wildcats to foul and end the attempt at a comeback. Ultimately, the Blue Devils used a 56.7 percent shooting performance in the second half to pull away from the Wildcats. 

The comeback wouldn't have been possible with out the stellar play from a number of different players. The Wildcats' relied heavily on Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) and LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humboldt) throughout the contest with Clark posting a career- and game-high 19 points, while Holt collected 16 with 10 coming at the free-throw line. Clark was 3-for-6 from 3-point range and had a game-high four assists. She also added four rebounds and two steals for her best performance of her early career, while Holt had nine rebounds, three steals and three assists to complete her stat line. 

Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) had a full stat line and came up big late in the game with two 3-pointers and several critical steals to give the Wildcats a fighting chance. The junior finished the night with eight points, four rebounds, four steals and an assist. 

Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) was also a solid starter for the Wildcats going 4-for-5 from the field for eight points. She equaled the game-high four steals from Horsch. Mary Neumann (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) came off the bench to collect a game-high 10 rebounds, while Alexis Garcia (Eden Prairie, Minn./Hopkins) had six points thanks to her perfect 2-for-2 shooting from beyond the arc. 

For the Blue Devils, Jenna Goldsmith had a team-best 17 points going 8-for-9 from the field, while Haley Froehlich had 14 points thanks to her four 3-pointers. 
 
The Wildcats will take the weekend off before returning to action for back-to-back action against Upper Midwest athletic COnference (UMAC) squads. Monday, the Wildcats travel to St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, to take on Crown College for a 7:30 p.m. contest before facing North Central University Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis. 

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