WINONA, MINN. – Over the past few years, the St. Catherine University basketball team has made a habit of playing its best against the top-teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). On Saturday, the Wildcats knew they would have to play their best if they were going to beat the Saint Mary's University Cardinals in Winona, Minnesota. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to stop the Cardinals offense, losing to Saint Mary's by a score of 80-73.

Over the past few weeks, a combination of stingy defense and high-powered offense has led the Wildcats to four consecutive-wins. Unfortunately, St. Kate's defense struggled to stop the Cardinals shooting from the three-point line. Saint Mary's opened the game by making three-consecutive threes and went 11-21 from beyond the arc in the game. The Wildcats had no answer. Despite shooting 46% from the floor during the game, the team shot just 18% from beyond the arc, and St. Kate's found itself down 38-28 at half time.

The Wildcats hoped to turn their struggling offense around in the second half, especially after top scorers LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) and Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) were held to just four and six points respectively. It was actually Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) who carried St. Kate's offense in the opening half, with 11 points after shooting 50% from the floor.

While the Wildcats offense did start playing better in the third quarter, the defense was unable to hold the Cardinals offense at bay. Every time St. Kate's scored a bucket, Saint Mary's had an answer, eventually extending its lead to 47-38 midway through the quarter. However, on their very next possession, Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) drew a foul under the basket and sunk both free throws, cutting the lead to seven. Then, after Sam Jones missed both free throws on the opposite end of the court, Mari Lee's (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) fastbreak layup and Jennings' two free throws cut Saint Mary's lead to 49-46.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's offense went cold for the remainder of the third quarter and the start of the fourth. The Wildcats trailed by as many as 19 points in the fourth and slowly but surely tried to chip away at Saint Mary's lead. St. Kate's eventually cut the Cardinals lead to seven, but it was too late, as the Wildcats went on to lose by a score of 80-73.

After being held to four points in the first half, Holt went on to score 15 points in the second, leading the team with 19 total. She also pulled in 12 rebounds to record her sixth consecutive double-double of the season. Jennings was second on the team with 15 points, and Clark and Cambrice each added 12.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 9-4 and they now hold a 3-3 record in MIAC play. St. Kate's will return to action on Wednesday, January 11, when it plays Hamline University on the road.