ST. PAUL, MINN. – In terms of wins, the St. Catherine University basketball team has found many ways to do it this season. So far this season, the Wildcats have used buzzer beaters, defensive stands, and free throws to come away with close with victories.

On Wednesday night, St. Kate's didn't need any of that.

After a tough loss to Saint Mary's University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) on Saturday, the Wildcats bounced back with their most dominating win of the season as they defeated Hamline University by a score of 78-53 on Wednesday night.

St. Kate's was on fire from the get go, shooting 53% from the floor in the opening half. However, the Wildcats only held a 13-10 lead after the opening quarter, thanks to stingy, aggressive play by the Pipers defense. Hamline also matched St. Kate's shot for shot in the first quarter, that is until first year guard Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) made two free throws in the final minutes of the quarter to give the Wildcats a 10-13 lead. Those two free throws jump started St. Kate's offense, which scored 17 unanswered points to start the second quarter.

Four different Wildcats scored during the huge second quarter run, which propelled St. Kate's to a 31-10 lead at the five minute mark. Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) opened the quarter with a jump shot from the free throw line to put her team up by five and opened the offensive flood gates. After that, a steal by LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) drew a Piper foul, which turned into two more points for the Wildcats.

Overall, four different players for St. Kate's scored during the run, including Jennings, Holt, Cambrice, and senior forward Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd). While Hamline did manage to score three points to cut the lead to 18, it didn't stop the Wildcat offense from continuing to score on their ensuing offensive possessions. Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) contributed six points after going 3-for-3 from the floor, but it was Cambrice who led the way for St. Kate's in terms of scoring in the opening half. The first year guard scored 14 points, a new season and career high, in the first 20 minutes of play, helping the Wildcats outscore the Pipers 29-9 in the second quarter.

At halftime, St. Kate's held a 42-19 lead over Hamline, the team's largest point margin after the first half of play all season. In the second half, though, the team struggled coming out of halftime, committing two costly turnovers that allowed the Pipers to score five straight points. However, the Wildcats settled down nicely after that as a three-pointer by Annie Schoeben (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) got the offense back on track.

After the five point scoring play to open the third quarter, St. Kate's never allowed Hamline to get within 20-points of the lead for the remainder of the game. After scoring only five points in the first half, junior guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) went on to score 12 points in the second to match Cambrice with a team-leading 17 points. Jennings added 11 and Lee added 10, helping the Wildcats handily defeat the Pipers by a final score of 78-53.

With the win, St. Kate's improved to 10-4 on the season and now holds a 4-3 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats overall and MIAC records are the best the team has recorded through the first half of the season since current head coach Sean Pinkerton took over five years ago. St. Kate's will return to the court on Saturday when it hosts Bethel University at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.