MOREHEAD, MINN. – After a high scoring win over Crown College on Monday, the St. Catherine University basketball team entered Wednesday night's game against Concordia College confident it would leave Morehead, Minnesota with its second conference win of the season. The game promised to be a good one, as the Cobbers and Wildcats split their series last season with both teams winning at home. Unfortunately, that trend continued Wednesday night, as St. Kate's fell to Concordia 85-78 and suffered its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) loss of the season.

The Wildcats were flying high entering Wednesday night's game against the Cobbers. Offensively, St. Kate's was outscored its opponents by 60 points in the first six games of the season while forcing over 160 turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, the Wildcats ran into some problems early against Concordia. While St. Kate's was able to hold Cobbers top scorer Jenna Januschka to just two points in the first half, the Wildcats were unable to contain Greta Walsh, who scored 15 points in the first half of the game, and Crystal Admundson. The two went on a five-point scoring run all by themselves to give Concordia a 5-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

After a cold opening two minutes of play, St. Kate's turned it on offensively. The Wildcats scored eight of the next 11 points and eventually took an 8-7 lead on two free throws from LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt). After that, the two teams traded the lead for the remainder of the quarter, until Concordia ended it with a six point scoring run to take an 18-12.

St. Kate's tried to cut into the Cobbers lead in the second quarter, but Concordia had an answer for every Wildcat basket. However, St. Kate's did manage to end the quarter by scoring five unanswered points and only trailed the Cobbers 38-30 at the half.

The scoring run at the end of the first half swung the momentum in the Wildcats direction. Coming out of half time, St. Kate's knew it needed to get a big defensive stop to stay in the game, and that is exactly what the team did. Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) blocked Admunson's jumper inside the paint, allowing guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) to pull in the rebound. From there, Clark set up Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins), who scored the easy layup under the basket, to cut the lead to 38-32.

Garcia's layup set up a five point serving run for the Wildcats, putting them within five of the Cobbers lead. Unfortunately, just like in the first half, the offense hit a bit of a stutter step after the initial scoring run, allowing Concordia to extend its lead back to double digits. By the end of the third quarter, St. Kate's trailed 61-52 with no hope of getting back in the game.

Down by 15 with under five minutes remaining in the game, it looked as though the Wildcats would leave Morehead, Minnesota with their worst loss of the season. St. Kate's, though, was never down or out for the count. Two free throws brought by Clark brought the Wildcats within 12 of the Cobbers lead with 3:47 remaining in the game. Then, first year Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) stole the ball from Walsh and fed Meg Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) on the fast break, cutting the lead to 10.

After Meg Clark's layup, fouls and free throws defined the remaining three minutes of play. Free throws by Cambrice and Clark eventually cut Concordia's lead to 79-74 with under two minutes to play, and the Wildcats tried to avoid fouling the Cobbers on the defensive side of the ball. That game plan played off on the very next Concordia possession, as Holt stole the ball from Walsh and drew the foul on the fast break.

Holt, statistically one of St. Kate's top-two free throw shooters, stepped to the line with 1:50 remaining and her team down 79-74. She missed the first free throw but made the second, meaning St. Kate's still had plenty of time to regain possession and score without resorting to fouling.

Unfortunately, Lee fouled Lincoln Haiby on the Cobbers next possession, and she sunk both her free throws to extend Concordia's lead back to six points. Holt drew another foul on the ensuing possession and made one of two free throws to cut the lead back down to five.

It was Audra Clark, though, that gave St. Kate's its best chance of taking with lead. With under a minute left to play, the junior point guard drew the foul and sunk both free throws, cutting Concordia's lead to 81-78. Then, the Wildcats impressive defense forced a Concordia team turnover, and St. Kate's took over on offense with 24 seconds remaining in the game. Unfortunately, with 15 seconds remaining in the game, Holt's game-tying shot was rejected by the rim, and the Wildcats were out in a position where they were forced to foul. The Cobbers went on to make four straight free throws, eventually defeating St. Kate's 85-78.

Audra Clark was the leading scorer for the second-consecutive game, scoring 21 points in 26 minutes of play. Holt added 17 from the bench, while Cambrice scored a season and career high 11 points for the Wildcats.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 5-3 with a 1-2 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to action this Saturday when the host the Augsburg College Auggies at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.