ARDEN HILLS, MINN. – With the playoffs quickly approaching, the St. Catherine University basketball team was hoping to gain some winning momentum in the final game of the 2016-17 regular season against the Bethel University Royals. In a battle between two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff teams, it was the Royals that came out on top, using free throws in the final seconds of the game to beat the Wildcats 61-55.

In the first half of the game, the Wildcats held the best 3-point shooting team in the conference to just 12.5% shooting from beyond the arc and nearly matched the Royals shot for shot from the floor. Unfortunately, St. Kate's got off to a bit of a rough start in the opening quarter, falling behind 17-10 in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Wildcats managed to battle back in the second, outscoring the Royals 21-16 in the second quarter to close the gap to 33-31 at the half.

After an opening half in which St. Kate's and Bethel scored a combined 64 points, both team's defenses came out to play in the second half. The Wildcats defense was again superb, allowing the Royals to score just 15 points on 35.7% shooting from the field. Unfortunately, St. Kate's experienced similar struggles and was unable to capitalize on several offensive opportunities in the third quarter, and Bethel still held a 48-44 lead entering the fourth and final quarter.

The Wildcats continued to claw away at the Royals lead but missed offensive opportunities allowed Bethel to take a 53-45 lead with 7:37 remaining in the game. However, Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) provided a huge spark for St. Kate's off the bench. The first year scored a career high 12 point in the loss, which included two key free throws in the fourth quarter that jump started the Wildcats offense. After Radford made two free throws, St. Kate's went on an 8-2 scoring run, which features baskets by senior LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt) and first year Danica Cambrice (Minneapolis, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran).

After Cambrice hit two free throws to get the Wildcats with in two of the Royals 55-53 lead, neither team was able to score for three straight minutes. Then, with 56 seconds remaining in regulation, Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) drew a foul under the basket and hit two free throws to tie the game at 55. Unfortunately, that was the last time St. Kate's would score. The Wildcats were forced to foul in order to stay in the game, and Bethel scored six unanswered points on free throws to win the game 61-55.

Radford was St. Kate's leading scorer with a career high 12 points while Holt was the leading rebounder with 12. Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) added 11 points while junior guard Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) scored 10.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 15-10 and the team finishes the regular season with a 9-9 mark in MIAC play. The Wildcats will open their playoff run on Wednesday, when they take on the No. 4 seed, the College of Saint Benedict, in St. Joseph, Minnesota. More information about the MIAC Basketball playoffs will be available later in the week.