With just two weeks remaining in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season, the St. Catherine University basketball team knew it would have to take advantage of every opportunity to end its seven-game losing streak. With a golden change at a win against Augsburg, the Wildcats appeared as though their luck might change thanks to an unbelievable shooting performance of 51.8 percent from the field.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn't hold on to their lead in allowing the Auggies to make a late-game run to force overtime before falling 83-77 in extra minutes Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Despite sharp shooting across the board, the Wildcats allowed the Auggies to score 32 points off of 27 Wildcat turnovers. The also surrended 42 points in the paint to the Wildcats and were outrebounded 44-30. The Auggies recorded 20 offensive boards and recorded 15 second-chance points to edge out the Wildcats.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 13-2 run to take an early lead before allowing the Auggies to tie the game at 21-21 half way through the opening 20 minutes. Then, the Wildcats went on a 14-3 run to regain a double-digit lead with under five remaining. The Wildcats used a remarkable 71.4 percent shooting performance from the field to take a 39-34 lead into the half.
Early in the second half, the Wildcats didn't miss a beat as they opened with a 13-2 run in the first 2:36. The Wildcats managed to hold on to a double-digit lead until the 11:01 mark of the half as the Auggies slowly began to chip away at the Wildcat lead. With 1:58 remaining, the Wildcats held a six-point lead, but wouldn't make another field goal as they allowed the Auggies to go on a 6-0 run to force overtime with just 19 seconds remaining.
The Auggies then opened the extra minutes with an 8-0 run and never looked back in handing the Wildcats their eighth-striaght MIAC loss. With the win, the Auggies improve to 7-7 in the MIAC and remain in contention for a postseason berth.
Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) had a career-high 22 points to lead the Wildcats. The first-year made three shots from beyone the arc to jump start her scoring performance. She also had a game-high five assists and two of the Wildcats 20 steals.
Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) was perfect from the field for the third time this season going 6-for-6 for 12 points, while
Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) was perfect from the charity stripe for a 12-point performance. She also had seven boards, three assists, two steal and a block.
LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humboldt) nearly missed setting a single-game school record for steals with a game-high nine takeaways.With her nine steals, Holt set a school record for most steals in a single season with 68 as she surpassed the previous mark of 64 set by Holly Wiste in 2001-02. She also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points and led the team in rebounds with nine. The sophomore also had a game-high five assists and two blocks.
Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) returned to the Wildcat lineup to add seven points off the bench. She went 3-for-4 from the field and also had four rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists to complete her stat line.
Mary Neumann (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) also came off the bench to add six points after going 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
The Auggies got a career-high performance from Jessica Lillquist who poured in 31 points. Jenna Orth and Marie Fitzgerald each added 14 points, while Abbey Luger chipped in 11.
With the loss the Wildcats fall to 7-14 on the season and 2-12 in the MIAC. They return to action Wednesday as they travel across town to face No. 3, undefeated University of St. Thomas at 7 p.m.
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