WINONA, MINN. – It was a career day for St. Catherine University women's basketball star LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humboldt). The junior forward scored the 1000 point in her career in the first quarter against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) co-leader Saint Mary's. However, Holt's final total of 26 points was not enough for the Wildcats to return to St. Paul with a victory, as they fell to the Cardinals 60-62 in the final seconds of the game.

Holt and the St. Kate's offense got off to a hot start in the first quarter by scoring 4 unanswered points before going on a 7-3 run. Holt scored her 1,000 career point of the game on two free throws in the first quarter, making her just the seventh player in St. Kate's basketball history to achieve the milestone. She went on to score 7 of the team's 14 first quarter points, while juniors Audra Clark (Kenyon Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) and Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes) provided the rest of the offense firepower to give the Wildcats a 14-10 lead.

Saint Mary's was able to close the gap in the second, using a full court press that stifled the Wildcat shooters. The Cardinals held St. Kate's to just 10 second quarter points, Despite the cold shooting, though, St. Kate's defense was able to keep them within reach. The Wildcats held the usually up-tempo Saint Mary's offense to 28% shooting from the floor, and only trailed 24-30 at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals jumped out to a 42-32 lead, their largest of the night. The St. Kate's players, though, just kept chipping away, scoring eight unanswered points to pull within one. With just over a minute left in the quarter, the Wildcats were looking to enter the fourth with a lead, but Saint Mary's rattled off four unanswered points to take a 46-41 lead into the fourth.

Just like the first three quarters, the fourth came down to the wire as the lead was traded from one team to another. Senior Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) tied the game at 46 after a steal and layup by Holt helped cut the Cardinals lead to three. St. Kate's jumped out to a 50-46 lead, which was the largest lead for either team for the next four minutes. The lead for both teams was never greater than one point, until Saint Mary's 61-56 lead with just 1:01 left to play. Still, the Wildcats clawed away at the lead and were within two with 39 seconds to play. The Cardinals team turnover with 19 seconds to play, gave St. Kate's time to tie the game. Unfortunately, Holt's last second shot did not fall through, and the Wildcats fell 60-62.

Holt finished the game with 26 points and 9 rebounds. She has scored 1,021 points in her career as a Wildcat, which puts her in seventh place on St. Kate's all-time scoring list. Holt also has 553 total rebounds in her career after pulling in her 500th in January's game against Macalester.

The Wildcats return to the court on Saturday for a MIAC conference match up against Augsburg. The home game against the Auggies will begin at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center. 

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