ST. PAUL, MINN. – For the past few weeks, the St. Catherine University basketball team has been in every game until the final minutes but has not been able to come away with a victory. That all changed Monday night, as the Wildcats beat the University of Wisconsin-Superior 77-72 in a thrilling game at the Butler Center.

The Yellow Jackets were a formidable nonconference opponent. The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) leaders had not lost a game since late November and were riding a 16 game win streak. From the get go, though, the Wildcats looked like they were going to put a stop to Superior's winning ways. St. Kate's jumped out to a ten point lead after the first quarter with an offensive hot hand a stifling defense. They held the Yellow Jackets to just 14 offensive points, while scoring 24 of their own to take a 24-14 lead into the second quarter.

In the past, though, the Wildcats shooting has gone cold after the first, a trend that reversed itself Monday night. The team scored 15 more points in the second quarter, extended their halftime lead to 39-24. Junior guard LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn./Humboldt) led the charge with 11 first half points, while senior Shauna Horsch (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) and junior Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn./Dawson-Boyd) added 8 points of their own. Lee was a nearly perfect from the floor in the first half, shooting 3-4 from the field and 2-3 beyond the arc.

The 15 point lead almost wasn't enough, though, as Superior went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter to tie the game at 45. For the rest of the third, neither the Wildcats nor the Yellow Jackets had a greater lead than 3 points, and the quarter ended in a 53-53 tie.

At the start of the fourth, it looked as though history was doomed to repeat itself, and St. Kate's would once again be on the wrong end of a close game. The Yellow Jackets took a quick 55-53 lead, but it was the closest they would get to winning for the rest of the night. Free throws by Holt and Audra Clark helped the Wildcats regain the lead, and in the end, it was free throw shooting that clinched the 77-72 win for St. Kate's. Lee hit two big free throws in the final seconds to seal the deal, leaving Superior no time to try and claw their way back.

In the end, both teams combined for 45 personal fouls, 21 of which belonged to the Wildcats.

Holt led the team with 22 points and 12 rebounds. The double-double is the eighteenth of her career and her seventh of the season. Lee also contributed 15 points, going 5-6 from the field, 2-3 from three point range, and 3-4 from the free throw line.

After the exciting victory, St. Kate's looks to keep the good times rolling when they face Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Saint Benedict on Wednesday. The game will feature two of the three teams to have beaten UW-Superior this season, as the visiting Blazers were the last team to beat the Yellow Jackets in late November.