ST. PAUL, MINN. – To say the St. Catherine University basketball team was riding high entering Wednesday night's game against No. 13 Gustavus Adolphus College might be a bit of an understatement. The Wildcats won two close games over Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents to clinch a spot in the conference tournament for the first time in seven years, and the team was hoping that momentum would carry over to Wednesday. Unfortunately, an upset was not in the cards for St. Kate's, as foul trouble in the third quarter led to a 84-65 loss to Gustavus.
The Gusties scored 25 points off free throws in the victory, accounting for nearly 30% of the team's offensive points. Gustavus also shot 41.7% from the three-point line, 49.1% from the field, and held a 78.1% free throw shooting percentage during the game. St. Kate's managed to match the visitor's with a 43.4% shooting percentage from the floor but only shot 8.3% from beyond the arc and 60% from the free throw line.
It was an extremely physical game between the Gusties and Wildcats from the very beginning. Gustavus jumped to a 22-13 point lead after the first quarter, which St. Kate's tried to cut down in the second. The Wildcats scored 17 points in the second quarter, 12 of which were scored by senior guard
LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, MInn. / Humboldt), to cut the Gustie lead to 43-30 at the end of the first half.
Both the Gustavus and St. Kate's offenses struggled at the start of the third quarter. The Wildcats defense played spectacularly in the third quarter, allowing the Gusties to score just four points from the field. Unfortunately, several St. Kate's players found themselves in foul trouble, as the Wildcats were called for 12 fouls in the third quarter alone. Gustavus made the most of those opportunities, as the Gusties scored 13 of their 17 points in the third quarter off free throws.
Unfortunately, St. Kate's was never able to fully recover. The Wildcats tried to claw their way back into the game by generating key offensive scoring chances and drawing fouls. Still, it wasn't enough to counteract Gustavus' free throw shooting, even in the fourth quarter, as St. Kate's fell by a final score of 84-65.
Holt was the team's leading scorer with 24 points and also pulled in a team-leading 7 rebounds.
Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) continued to provide offensive firepower for the Wildcats with 11 points of her own.
With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 15-9 and the team holds a 9-8 mark in MIAC play. Despite the loss, the Wildcats still hold the No. 5 spot in the MIAC standings, as Saint Ben's took sole possession of fourth place with a win over Hamline Wednesday night.
St. Kate's will return to the court on Saturday, when the team takes on Bethel at 3 p.m. in Arden Hills, Minnesota. It will be the Wildcats final game of the regular season.
