Coming off a strong performance against the University of St. Thomas despite the loss, the St. Catherine University basketball team needed to play with the same intensity and strong defense in order to come up with a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win against St. Olaf College. That wasn't the case, though, as the Wildcats came out flat and struggled shooting in a 56-43 loss to the Oles Saturday afternoon in
Butler Center.
Neither team had solid performances ealry in the first half with both making just seven field goals. However, the Oles converted on 75 percent of their free throw opportunities and out-rebounded the Wildcats 22-14 to take a 27-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
In the second half, the lack-lustre shooting continued on both sides with the Wildcats making just eight buckets and going 4-of-12 from the charity stripe. Throughout the half, the Wildcats would pull within eight, but the Oles continued to come up with an answer and pulled away in the final four minutes for their fourth conference win of the season.
LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humbolt) led the Wildcats with 12 points and 16 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season to lead the Wildcats on both sides of the ball, while
Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) had nine points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to stuff ehr stat line.
Mary Neumann (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) came off the bench for nine points as she went 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) also had six points, five rebounds and a game-high four steals.
Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) added four points, while
Meg Clark (
Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) three assists, two steals and a block.
Leading the way for the Oles was Betsey Daly who had 18 points and 20 rebounds, while Woo Bandel added 11 points and four steals.
With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 7-8 overall and 2-6 in the MIAC. They return to conference action when the hit the road Wednesday to face defending MIAC Champion Saint Mary's University for a 7 p.m. game in Winona, Minnesota. Wildcat Basketball on TwitterWildcat Basketball on FacebookWildcats on TwitterWildcats on Facebook
