NEW YORK, N.Y. – The St. Catherine University basketball team was riding high entering Saturday evening's game against the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Wildcats won their opening game of the season on Tuesday thanks to a huge come-from-behind effort in the second half of the game. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to overcome an early deficit against the Beacons, falling 65-55 in its opening game of New York University's Tipoff Tournament.

The Wildcats struggled in the first half and were unable to contain the Beacons top scorer Katrina Edwards. Edwards accounted for 30% of UMASS-Boston's scoring the first half with 10 points in 15 minutes of play. However, while St. Kate's struggled to contain Edwards, the team also struggled on the offensive side of the ball. The Wildcats were behind 11-4 after the first quarter and, despite scoring 14 points in the second half, were still down 30-18 entering half time.

After halftime, St. Kate's slowly but sure started to cut into UMASS-Boston's lead. After the Beacons scored six unanswered points to open the third quarter, the Wildcats went on a scoring run of their own, started by first year point guard Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran). Cambrice hit a crucial layup five minutes into the quarter then made a key defensive rebound to set up two free throw shots by Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd). Lee made both free throws, cutting the deficit to 24-38.

Still, the Beacons weren't done scoring, and eventually took a 16 point lead with a jumper by Maritza Scott. However, a big-time three by first year point guard Sam Skwarek (St. Anthony, Minn. / St. Anthony) cut the lead to 40-27, and the Wildcats rattled off eight straight points and only trailed UMASS-Boston 44-35 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was similar to the first, second and third. The Beacons jumped out to the double-digit lead before St. Kate's came storming back to cut the lead to under 10 points. After UMASS-Boston took a 50-37 lead, Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) converted a three-point play with a layup and free throw to bring the Wildcats within 10 points. One minute later, Jennings again scored from underneath the basket, shrinking the Beacons lead to 50-42.

After that, Lee helped cut the lead to 50-46 with two layups, but St. Kate's hit a scoring drought after that. At the four minute mark, UMASS-Boston once again held an eight point lead, and it looked the game was out of reach for the Wildcats. However, St. Kate's played the best three minutes of the season, eventually getting back within one point of the Beacons with a layup by starting point guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo). Sadly, that was the closest the Wildcats would come to catching UMASS-Boston. The Beacons drained six straight free throws, and St. Kate's fell 65-55.

Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) led the Wildcats in scoring for the second consecutive game with 18 points after going 7-9 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line. Jennings ended the game with 11 points, nine of which she scored in the second half, and eight rebounds while Clark contributed 12 points and eight rebounds as well.  

The 65-55 loss to UMASS-Boston is the Wildcats first of the season. St. Kate's will look to bounce back in its second game of the NYU Tipoff Classic. The Wildcats will take on Baruch University at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday.