ST. PAUL, MINN. – Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) has been on fire offensively for the St. Catherine University basketball team this past week. However, the junior may have given up the 45 points she scored against Crown and Concordia for her final basket in Saturday afternoon's game against Augsburg College.

After a tough Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) loss to Concordia College on Wednesday, St. Kate's was looking to bounce back and stay undefeated at home with a win over Augsburg College on Saturday. Thanks to Clark and Co. that is exactly what the Wildcats did. With two seconds remaining on the clock in overtime, LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) found Clark under the basket for the game winning-layup, giving St. Kate's the 93-91 victory over Augsburg.

The Wildcats certainly had to earn their second MIAC win of the season, especially after the Auggies huge comeback in the second half of the game. St. Kate's jumped out to a big 47-34 lead at halftime, thanks to 14 points from Holt and 12 from senior forward Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins). However, it wasn't just the two seniors carrying the Wildcat offense in the first half. Overall, the team shot 46% from the floor and nearly 40% from the three-point line.

Despite its big, early lead, St. Kate's did find itself in foul trouble early in the game and was forced to play most of the first half without Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes). Jennings has been a defensive star for the Wildcats all season, and has been one of the key role players in forcing turnovers and pulling in defensive rebounds. Even without Jennings on the floor, St. Kate's defensive still held Augsburg to 33.3% shooting from the field and under 22% shooting from beyond the arc, which helped the offense amass its large lead.

The Auggies, though, were not about to go quietly into the night. Slowly but surely, Augsburg started to chip away at the lead and outscored the Wildcats for the first time in the third quarter 22-19. Still, St. Kate's held a substantial 66-56 lead at the end of the third quarter thanks to a last second layup from Holt off a key defensive steal by Jennings.

It was fouls, though, that got the Wildcats in trouble in the fourth quarter. Jennings fouled out less than two minutes in, and the Auggies Tamira McLemore sunk both free throws to highlight a three point scoring run by Augsburg.

On St. Kate's very next possession, Garcia hit a huge three from the corner, extending her team's lead back to nine points. From that point on, the two teams traded buckets, but the Wildcats never let the Auggies get closer than eight points.

With 2:50 remaining in the ball game, Garcia and Clark hit back-to-back layups to put St. Kate's up 78-68, seemingly clinching the victory for the Wildcats. However, the two St. Kate's baskets seemed to have an inspiring effect on Augsburg. On their very next possession, the Auggies hit a 3-pointer from the elbow, and suddenly, the Wildcats lead shrunk from 10 points to seven and then down to five.

Still, St. Kate's defense held strong during Augsburg's next three offensive possessions. The team was clinging to an 80-75 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the game went Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) was penalized with her third foul of the game. K'Aezha Wubban drained both free throws, making it a one possession ball game.

Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn.  / St. Croix Lutheran) was fouled on the Wildcats next offensive possession. The first year guard made one of two free throws, extending St. Kate's lead back to four points at 81-77. Augsburg, though, had an answer with a layup from Wubban. Immediately following the play, the Auggies fouled Cambrice, who again made on of two free throws to give the Wildcats an 82-79 win. Still, McLemore managed to hit a highly contested three-pointer from the wing, and regulation ended with the two teams knotted 82-82.

Unlike the first four quarters of play, it was Augsburg's offense that got off to a hot start in overtime. The Auggies scored four unanswered points to take their first lead of the night 86-82 over St. Kate's. However, the Wildcats showed resiliency and scored five unanswered points with two free throws from Cambrice and a huge 3-point field goal from Clark to take an 87-86 lead. Clark extended the lead to 89-86 with two free throws, but Augsburg answered with two unanswered layups to take a 90-89 lead.

Lee answered for St. Kate's on the very next possession, as she hit a layup under the basket to give her team a 91-90 lead. With 17 seconds remaining, it was up to the defense to secure the Wildcats win, and after McLemore missed a jumper under the basket, it seemed as though the win would go to the home team. But on the rebound, Clark was called for her third rebound, sending McLemore to the line for two shots. The guard missed her first and made the second, tying the game 91-91.
With eight seconds remaining, Holt dribbled the ball up the court, careful not to turn the ball over and give Augsburg a chance to miss the final shot. She immediately drew the attention of three defenders, leaving Clark wide open under the basket. Holt dribbled once, then bounced the ball down to her teammate, who put the ball in for the easy layup just as time expired.

The Wildcats had six players score in double digits in the 93-91 overtime victory over the Auggies. Garcia was the team's leading scorer after scoring a career high 21 points in 41 minutes of play, her highest totals of the season. Holt recorded her second double-double of the week with 20 points and a team-leading 14 rebounds, while Clark recorded 19, which included her heroic last second layup. Both Cambrice and Lee contributed 13 points.

With the win, St. Kate's improves to 6-3 overall and holds a 2-2 mark in conference play. The Wildcats will play one more game before Christmas on Wednesday, when they travel to River Falls, Wisconsin to play the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at 7 p.m.