ST. PAUL, MINN. – After two successful weeks of nonconference play, the St. Catherine University basketball team is mere hours away from the start of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season. The Wildcats will take on the College of Saint Benedict tonight to open what is sure to be an exciting conference season.

Both St. Kate's and Saint Ben's are two of several teams who could compete for a spot in the MIAC postseason tournament. In fact, the Blazers are projected to finished sixth in the conference this season, which would qualify them for the MIAC playoffs. The Wildcats, on the other hand, were voted to finish seventh in the MIAC, which puts them in the hunt for a spot in the postseason as well.

St. Kate's will begin its MIAC season on the road, as tonight's game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Live stats and video will be available through Saint Ben's and score updates will be made on St. Kate's official Twitter accounts (@stkateswildcats).

Here are the five key points to know before tip off between the Wildcats and Blazers:

1 – Last season, St. Kate's defeated Saint Ben's faced each other just once, but it was by far one of the most entertaining games of the season. The Wildcats defeated the Blazers at home 57-56 thanks to a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter. After Saint Ben's cut the lead to one point, St. Kate's was unable to score during its offensive possession. The Wildcats, however, were able to force the Blazers 23^rd turnover of the night on an inbound pass to secure its fifth MIAC victory of the season.

31 – St. Kate's set a school record for team assists in its 94-81 victory over Baruch College at the NYU Tip Off Classic on November 20. That mark is not only the best in program history, but is also one of the best in the MIAC. The Wildcats 31 assists is second only to Concordia-Moorhead's conference record of 42, which was set in the late 1980s. Since then, only St. Kate's has come close to touching the record.

4 – St. Kate's had four athletes score in double digits in its 82-74 victory over UW-Stout on Sunday. All four of the players were the Wildcat seniors. Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) led the team with 18 total points, tying a career high she set in New York, while LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) looked strong in her season debut with 17 points. Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) and Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) also contributed to the scoring with 15 and 12 points respectively.

14 – St. Kate's made 14 free throws in the fourth quarter against the Blue Devils to seal its victory. Junior point guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) hit the game-winning free throw with less than a minute remaining in the game after getting fouled while bringing the ball up the court.

65.8 – Lee is currently second in the MIAC in field goal percentage, having made 65.8% of the shots she's taken this season. She leads the team in all offensive categories through the first four games, including points (66), shooting percentage (65.8) and three-point shooting percentage (53.8).