ST. PAUL, MINN. – It might only be January, but the hunt for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs is already in full force for the St. Catherine University basketball team. Unfortunately, the Wildcats hit a bit of a speed bump Wednesday night when they hosted the College of Saint Benedict at the Butler Center Gymnasium in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite strong defensive play, St. Kate's came up short in first home game in a week, falling to Saint Ben's 50-47.   

The first half was defined by defense, as neither team shot above 40% from the floor. The Wildcats were held to a season low 22 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, and leading scorers Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) and LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) were held to a combined two points by the Blazer defense. On the flip side, St. Kate's defense was equally stifling, as it held Saint Ben's leading scorers Nikki Fokken and Chelsey Guetter to just eight points in the first half as well.

While the Blazers zone defense managed to shut down Clark and Holt in the opening half, it had no answer for senior forward Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes). Jennings roamed the baseline and managed to score a team leading eight points in the first half to spark the Wildcats offense. She also helped St. Kate's hold a 22-20 lead at halftime.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats shots continued to bounce off the rim at the start of the second half, while the Blazers started to fall. Saint Ben's opened the third quarter with a 10-point scoring run to take a 31-24 lead over St. Kate's, forcing head coach Sean Pinkerton to call his first time out. After that, the Wildcats scored eight unanswered points, six of which were scored by Holt, and were only down 33-32 at the end of the third quarter.

St. Kate's and Saint Ben's continued to trade the lead back and forth for three minutes of the fourth quarter. Danica Cambrice (Minnneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) tied the score at 33 with a free throw in the opening seconds before Guetter regained the lead for the Blazers by making two free throws on the very next possession. It was first year transfer Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) that gave the Wildcats offense the jump spark it needed. With the shot clock winding down and the team in need of basket, Radford hit a huge three off a pass from Kanani Asuncion (Rochester, Minn. / Century) to give St. Kate's its first lead of the second half.

From there, the Blazers and Wildcats continued to trade two-point baskets as the two teams continued to play defense at a high level. In the fourth quarter alone, there were six lead changes and three ties, making it one of the closest games St. Kate's has played this season.

With two minutes remaining in the games, it seemed as though the momentum finally swung in the Wildcats direction. Again, as the clock was winding down, Holt kicked the ball out to Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) at the top of the key, who did not miss the wide open three, giving St. Kate's a 46-45 lead. On the ensuing defensive possession, the Wildcats seemed to get a key stop with a crucial rebound under the basket. However, the Blazers managed to regain possession, and Fokken's two-pointer once again gave Saint Ben's a one-point lead.

With seconds remaining, the game came down to free throws, as both team's continued to be physical on defense. After missing several free throw shots, the Blazers Sidney Schiffler hit two with seven seconds remaining, giving Saint Ben's a 50-47 lead. The Wildcats tried to draw a foul on the very next offensive possession, but the seconds on the clock quickly tipped away until there was no time remaining, resulting in the 50-47 loss.

Holt was the team's leading scorer with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Her 13-point performance moves her to third all-time in St. Kate's record books for scoring, as she now has 1374 points in her career at St. Kate's. Jennings was second on the team in scoring with 11 points.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 11-7 and they now hold a 5-6 mark in MIAC play. St. Kate's will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday to take on the Augsburg College Auggies at 3 p.m.