After a strong start to the 2014-15 season, the St. Catherine University basketball team has faced some of the toughest teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and slid to a five-game losing streak. Unfortunately, the going wasn't getting any easier for the Wildcats as they faced another conference powerhouse in the College of Saint Benedict.
Despite an attempt at a late-game comeback where the Wildcats pulled within six points, they couldn't overcome a less-than-ideal shooting day suffering a 73-62 loss to the Blazers Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
The first half didn't open up in favor of the Wildcats as the Blazers jumped out to a 15-point lead with 8:50 remaining in the half before the Wildcats went on a 17-5 run to end the half down just three at 32-29.
However, the Blazers didn't waste any time in the second half as they pulled away to an 18-point lead with over 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats clawed their way back in and went on a 12-4 run in just over four minutes to pull within six points as just 1:20 remained in the game. That's as close as the Wildcats would come, though, in suffering their 10th MIAC loss of the season.
Leading the way for the Wildcats was
Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) who had a breakout performance highlighting her rookie season. Clark poured in a career- and game-high 20 points to lead the Wildcat offense that shot just 35.9 percent from the field. She also tallied seven rebounds which matches her career-best. The first-year also had one assist and two steals to complete her stat line.
After being shutout in the first half,
LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humboldt) came to life in the second finishing with her 10th double-double of the season. The sophomore finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She also added three steals, a block and an assist.
Meg Clark (
Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) followed the lead of sister Audra in collecting a career-high scoring performance breaking double-digits for the first time in her rookie season with 10 points. She went 4-for-8 from the field and also had an assist, rebound and steal.
Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) finished with a strong performance of nine points and a game-high four steals, while Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) had four points, six rerbounds and a game-high four assists. Mary Neumann (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) came off the bench for five points.
The Blazers were led by sister duo Mattie and Emily Lueck who scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Kate Banovetz had a team- and game-high 13 rebounds.
The Wildcats return to action Wednesday for their first of just two remaining home game on the season. They are slated to face Concordia College in a 7 p.m. contest at Butler Center. Wildcat Basketball on TwitterWildcat Basketball on FacebookWildcats on TwitterWildcats on Facebook
