MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – It is not common for a basketball player to set a statistical career high, play one of the best quarters in school history, and lead his or her team to a crucial conference victory.  

St. Catherine University basketball's LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) proved on Saturday that she is anything but common. The senior nearly single-handedly led her team to victory over Augsburg College Saturday afternoon with one of the most successful fourth quarters in St. Kate's history. Holt scored 14 of her team leading 26 points in the fourth quarter alone and pulled in a career high 18 rebounds to propel the Wildcats to a 69-65 win over the Auggies.

The much needed win came after St. Kate's lost a heartbreaker to the College of Saint Benedict at home on Wednesday and keeps the Wildcats in the hunt for a spot in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs. However, a victory was not guaranteed Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats needed overtime and a buzzer beater from Audra Clark (Kenyon, MInn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) to beat the Auggies 93-91 in their first meeting in December.

After three quarters of play, it looked like the game was headed in that direction. Throughout the entire first half of the game, neither team was able to lead by more than four points thanks to clutch shooting and defensive stops by both teams. In fact, there were 13 lead changes in the game and nine in just the third and fourth quarters.

Augsburg did manage to hold a slight 27-23 advantage over St. Kate's at the half, thanks to a last second layup by Aiza Wilson. However, the momentum was already starting to shift in the Wildcats direction, as they allowed the Auggies score just nine points in the second quarter after allowing 18 in the first. Still, St. Kate's had some ground to make up in the third, especially on the offensive side of the floor. Augsburg managed to hold the team's leading scorers, Clark and Holt, to just eight and three points in the opening half of play, and allowed Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) to score just five points as well.

Both Holt and Clark kicked their offensive play into higher gear in the second half, elevating the team to another level. The Wildcats shot 50% from the field in the third and fourth quarters after shooting just 27% from the field in the first and second. More importantly, St. Kate's was able to match Augsburg shot for shot in the second half and never allowed the home team's lead to get out of reach.

Thanks to strong shooting, the Wildcats held a five points 47-42 lead at the end of the third quarter. However, the Auggies weren't about to go without a fight and definitely made things interesting with five minutes remaining in the quarter. Slowly but surely, Augsburg began to cut into St. Kate's lead until the two teams were just trading it back and forth. That is, until Holt decided to take matters into her own hands.

With the Auggies up 58-57 and three minutes remaining in the quarter, Holt played a hand in the next 10 offensive possessions for the Wildcats by either scoring or assisting on the scoring play. In fact, Kanani Asuncion was the only player other than Holt to score in the final three minutes of the game. However, Holt's clutch play and free throw shooting eventually gave St. Kate's a lead it would never relinquish, and with six seconds remaining, the senior drained two free throws, sealing the Wildcats 69-65 win.

Holt was the team's leading scorer with 26 points and set a new career high in rebounds by pulling in 18. That number brings her career total to 761, just one shy of St. Kate's school record for career rebounds.

Clark also had a nice game for the Wildcats, with 16 points and five rebounds. Jennings added 11 points of her own as well and matched Clark's five rebounds.

With the win, St. Kate's overall record improved to 12-7 and the team is once against at .500 in MIAC play with a 6-6 record. The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, February 1 when they host Macalester College at 7 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.