ST. PAUL, MINN. – There was plenty of excitement and intrigue entering the St. Catherine University basketball team's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener. The Wildcats conference opener against Carleton College certainly didn't disappoint Saturday afternoon, except for the final score. Despite leading for the majority of the game, St. Kate's suffered late injuries and a scoring drought, resulting in a 61-57 loss to Carleton.
The Wildcats faced more adversity than they expected in their first MIAC game of the season, as they were without starting forward and leading scorer Danica Cambrice (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) for the first time all season. St. Kate's offense didn't get off to the best start in the game either, as the Wildcats trailed Carleton 18-16 at the end of the first quarter. St. Kate's offense was uncharacteristically quiet during the first 10 minutes as the team struggled to break through the Knights solid inside play. The Wildcats defense also had no answer for Carleton's hot offense, as the Knights made three straight baskets to jump ahead 7-1.
St. Kate's offense eventually got going in the second half of the quarter, as seniors Meg and Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) and Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) all scored to get the Wildcats within three of Carleton's lead. Eventually, St. Kate's hard work paid off, as Kaitlyn Struemke (Somerset, Wis. / Somerset) gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game with a big three-pointer with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
Carleton did managed to jump ahead again, resulting in a 18-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter. However, St. Kate's was bit by the scoring bug at the end of the quarter. In fact, the Wildcats outscored the Knights 20-15 in the second quarter alone, resulting in a 36-33 halftime lead for the home team.
Audra Clark was the team's leading scorer in the first half, scoring 14 of the team's 36 first half points. In the second half, though, it was Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) that stepped up to the plate, especially in the rebounding aspect of the game. The sophomore pulled in a career-high 15 rebounds in the game and recorded the first double-double of her career to help St. Kate's hold a 53-46 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Unfortunately, that's when things took a turn for the worst for the Wildcats. While St. Kate's was bit by the scoring bug early in the game, it was bit by the injury bug late in the third quarter, and the Wildcats were forced to play the final 10 minutes without one of their top scorers. Still, St. Kate's had ample opportunity to extend its lead, but struggled to put the ball in the hoop. Carleton also struggled to score, but the Knights slowly chipped away at the Wildcats lead until the game was all tied up at 53 points with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
After Carleton tied the game, neither team scored for four consecutive minutes, until Radford regained the lead for St. Kate's by making a free throw at 3:40. It was then another two minutes before another basket was made. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Knights Anne Hamilton hit a huge three from the top of the key to give the Carleton a 56-54 lead.
St. Kate's did manage to tie the game with one minute remaining in regulation, as Morgan Kurth (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) drained two clutch free throws to tie the game 56-56. Unfortunately, the Knights took the lead on the ensuing possession, as Samantha Cook drained an off-balance jumper to give Carleton a 58-56 lead. St. Kate's was never quite able to gain back the momentum from earlier, eventually falling 61-56.
Clark ended the game as the leading scorer with 14 total points, while Struemke and Radford both scored in double digits. Struemke scored a career high 12 points in the effort, while Radford added 10 points to her team-leading 15 rebounds.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 3-3 and it holds a MIAC record of 0-1. The Wildcats will return to the court on Wednesday, when they travel to Moorhead, Minnesota to take on Concordia College at 7 p.m.
