ST. PETER, MINN. – The St. Catherine University basketball team (10-6, 4-5 MIAC) certainly had an upset on its mind when the team traveled to St. Peter, Minnesota Wednesday night. After a disappointing loss to Bethel University on Saturday, the Wildcats were looking to get back in the win column. However, to do that, they would have to upset No. 22/25 Gustavus Adolphus College (16-0, 9-0 MIAC) on the road. While St. Kate's battled and even lead midway through the game, the visitors were unable to leave St. Peter with a win, falling to the Gusties 83-76 in the final minutes of regulation.

Entering the game, the Wildcats knew they would have to play one of their best games of the season to hand Gustavus its first loss in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. Coming into the game, the Gusties ranked first in the MIAC in scoring, averaging 76.1 points per game against conference opponents.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to contain the Gustavus offense in the opening six minutes of play, as the Gusties jumped out to a 16-9 lead in the first quarter. However, the Wildcats weren't down for the count, despite the large deficit. After Gustavus scored 12 unanswered points, head coach Sean Pinkerton subbed in senior guard LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt), who spent the final four minutes of the first quarter captaining St. Kate's offense. First, she dished a pass to Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) under the basket, then scored two unanswered baskets, cutting Gustavus' lead to 16-13.  However, the Wildcats really hit their stride offensively with under one minute remaining in the first quarter. First, Lee hit a huge three-point bucket to put St. Kate's within one point of the Gusties lead. Then, after forcing a huge turnover on defense, the Wildcats managed to score the final basket of the quarter. With two seconds remaining, Holt drove toward the basket for the layup and drained the basket in traffic, completing St. Kate's comeback and giving the team a 21-20 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter was similar to the first, as the two teams continued to trade the lead for the next 10 minutes of play. Thanks to the team's best shooting half of the season, the Wildcats were able to take a 41-39 lead into halftime. Holt led the team in scoring at the half, matching her season high 19 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Lee added nine after going 3-4 from the floor and 1-1 from beyond the arc, helping St. Kate's shoot 53% from the floor and 32% from the three-point line in the opening half.

The third quarter was just as exciting as the second. Again the two teams traded the lead for the majority of the quarter, but the Gusties eventually managed to pull away three minutes into the quarter. The Wildcats hot shooting suddenly went cold, and the team had no answer for MIAC top-scorer Mikayla Miller. However, St. Kate's managed to stay within reach and never let Gustavus take more than a six point lead. The Wildcats managed to pull within three of the Gusties lead thanks to a jumper from Holt and a huge three-point basket from transfer Kanani Asuncion (Rochester, Minn. / Century), but Gustavus continued to score, despite St. Kate's best efforts on defense.

Down 64-58 after the third, the Wildcats needed a huge fourth quarter to keep their hopes of an upset alive. The team continued to try and chip away at the Gusties lead, pulling within three with under two minutes to play. Unfortunately, a costly turnover and missed offensive opportunities led to a Gustavus run that St. Kate's wasn't able to overcome, as the team suffered its second straight loss by a score of 83-76.

Holt was the team's leading scorer, scoring a season high 27 points in the loss and pulling in a team high 12 rebounds. Junior Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) added 23 points as well, while Jennings added 10.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 10-6 and the team's record in conference play now stands at 4-5. The Wildcats will try to get back to their winning ways on Saturday, when they travel to Northfield, Minnesota for a rematch against St. Olaf College. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at St. Olaf.