ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – The start of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MAIC) season could not have come sooner for the St. Catherine University basketball team. St. Kate's was riding a two-game win streak entering its conference opener against the College of Saint Benedict, and with two road wins already under their belt, the Wildcats felt confident they could leave St. Joseph, Minnesota with another win to their names. Sadly, St. Kate's was unable to overcome scoring droughts in the first and third quarters, ultimately falling to Saint Ben's 60-53.

The Wildcats and Blazers entered the game as two of the most experienced teams in the conference. Saint Ben's returned five of its key players from the 2015-16 team, while St. Kate's also returned the core of its starting lineup. However, it was the Blazers who came out looking like the more experienced team early in the first quarter. Despite forcing a turnover just seconds into the game, the Wildcats offense got off to a slow start, as the team missed its first six shots to start the game. Saint Ben's on the other hand, was hot from the three-point line, eventually taking an 8-2 lead over St. Kate's five minutes into the quarter.

The Wildcat offense eventually started to heat up, even so much as to take a 9-8 lead over the Blazers late in the first quarter. It was not enough, however, as the home team went on a 6-0 run to end the first 10 minutes of play with a 14-9 lead.

However, in the second quarter, St. Kate's offense truly came to life. In fact, the Wildcats outscored Saint Ben's 19-18 thanks to strong offensive play from multiple players. It still wasn't enough to overcome the early deficit, as St. Kate's still found itself down 32-28 at the end of the first half.

The Wildcats again came out cold in the third quarter and only managed to score five points in 10 minutes of play. The scoring drought allowed Saint Ben's to extend its lead to 42-30 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter. However, a last second layup by Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) drew the foul from the Blazers Annie Dittberner, and suddenly, the momentum seemed like it was about to swing in the Wildcats direction. Garcia converted the three-point play by making the foul shot and St. Kate's was able to get a defensive stop to end the third period down 42-33.

The momentum didn't stay on the Wildcats side for long as the Blazers continued to extend their lead early in the fourth quarter. However, just when it seemed like the game was out of reach, St. Kate's slowly began to chip away at the deficit. Senior guard LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) forced a huge turnover with a steal and converted the layup, cutting Saint Ben's lead to 49-39 at 6:25 in the final quarter. After the Blazers next possession, the Wildcat defense slowly started to wreak havoc on its end of the floor. Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) scored two points under the basket, then forced a Saint Ben's turnover, which turned into a three-point basket by Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo).

After the Jennings-to-Clark play, the Blazers lead had whittled down to 51-44 with under five minutes remaining in the game. The lead then shrunk to 51-47 thanks to an offensive rebound and basket from Holt.

From that point on, the two teams traded baskets, and the Wildcats were never able to get within three of Saint Ben's lead. Eventually, down 55-51 with 1:27 remaining, St. Kate's was forced to foul the Blazers in hopes of regaining possession quickly. The Wildcats managed to foul Dittberner with 47 seconds remaining, but she converted both free throws, extending Saint Ben's lead to 57-51. Holt hit a lay up to again cut the lead to 57-53 then fouled Dittberner again to prevent the Blazers from running out the clock. The result was the same as the first foul, though. Dittberner sunk both free throws to extend her team's lead, but the Wildcats were unable to score on the following offensive possession, eventually falling by the final score of 60-53.

Clark and Holt were the only two members of St. Kate's team to score in double digits in the loss to Saint Ben's. Clark led the team in scoring with 16 points, nine of which were scored in the second half, while Holt added 15 of her own. Holt was the leading rebounder on the team, with six total.

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 3-2 on the season with a 0-1 mark in MIAC play. The team will return to action on Saturday when it hosts St. Olaf College at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.