ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – The past four months have been historic for the St. Catherine University basketball team. The Wildcats watched three school records fall in the process of tying the program record for overall wins in a season (15) and clinching their first birth to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoffs since 2009-10. Sadly, St. Kate's magnificent season came to an end Wednesday night, as the Wildcats dropped a heartbreaker in the opening round of the MIAC playoffs 53-50 to the College of Saint Benedict.

If the first two meetings between these teams was any indicator, Wednesday night's quarterfinal was going to be a thriller. The Blazers beat St. Kate's twice this season, first 60-53 in the MIAC opener then 50-47 in late January. However, the Wildcats certainly weren't about to let that deter them, as they entered the game with a program best 15-10 record overall and a 9-9 mark in conference play.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's got off to a slow start and found itself down 18-8 in the first quarter. The Wildcats did manage to turn it around in the second by going on a scoring run that closed the gap to 22-20 midway through the second quarter.

Still, St. Kate's trailed 28-23 at the half. However, the Wildcats were feeling confident after their second quarter surge and looked to tie the game and take the lead for good in the third.  Thanks to two consecutive threes from Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) and Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo), St. Kate's was able to get within three of Saint Ben's lead and only trailed 34-31 with eight minutes remaining in the quarter. From that point on, though, each team's respective defense would reign supreme, as the Wildcats held the Blazers to just three points in the remaining eight minutes of play. In the meantime, St. Kate's scored six points of its own on offense, resulting in a 37-37 tie at the start of the fourth and final quarter.

As in the first two meetings between the teams, the fourth quarter proved to be the most thrilling. With the game tied 37-37 at the start of the final 10 minutes, Blazer senior Chelsey Guetter hit a three from the corner to put her team up 40-37. On the next offensive possession, though, the Wildcats cut the lead to 40-39 with a huge layup by Kennedy Jennings (Grimes, Iowa / Dallas Center-Grimes) and eventually took a 41-40 lead with two clutch free throw shots from senior guard LaShay Holt (Minneapolis, Minn. / Humboldt).

Sadly, St. Kate's lead didn't last for very long, as Nikki Foken drained a jumper to put the Blazers back on top 42-41. After that, both teams went cold for two minutes, as stellar, physical defensive play kept the ball out of the hoop, that is until Mari Lee (Dawson, Minn. / Dawson-Boyd) hit a layup under the basket to give the Wildcats a 43-42 lead. Unfortunately, it would also be the last basket St. Kate's would hit for a full minute, as Saint Ben's went on to score eight unanswered points to take a 49-43 lead.

With 2:45 remaining in the game, Jennings hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 49-44, giving the Wildcats plenty of time to come back without resorting to fouling. However, for the next minute and 30 seconds, neither St. Kate's nor the Blazers managed to score a point, leaving the Wildcats with no choice but to foul. Fortunately, it seems like they picked exactly the right Saint Ben's player to foul as Annie Dittberner hit just one of two free throws, meaning St. Kate's had 33 seconds to whittle away the Blazers 50-44 lead.

With a chance to cut into the lead, the Wildcats committed a costly turnover with 27 seconds left, and Audra Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) was forced to commit her fifth foul, eliminating her from the rest of the game. Dittberner again went one for two from the line, extending her team's lead to 51-44. However, with exactly 16 seconds remaining, Holt hit a huge three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to 51-47. On the next defensive possession, St. Kate's fouled Dittberner again, and the result at the free throw line was the same: one of two and a defensive rebound by Holt. The senior rushed the ball up the court and hit a wide open Kanani Asuncion (Rochester, Minn. / Century), who drained the three and cut the lead to 52-50.

After a time out by Saint Ben's, the Wildcats knew they had just five seconds to regain offensive possession if they had any chance of tying or winning the game. Holt fouled Dittberner on the inbound, who again made one of two, missing the second. Holt pulled in the rebound and sprinted up the court to set up the play. She looked to take the shot herself, then found Jennings high on the left side. Jennings opted not to shoot, instead finding Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) open in the left corner. The junior took the shot as the buzzer went off, and St. Kate's watched and held its breath as it hit the rim and bounced straight up. Unlike so many times before, the rim was not the Wildcats friend, as the shot bounced again and fell off to the right, resulting in the 53-50 loss.

Lee, who was 4-4 from the floor and 1-1 from three-point range, and Jennings were the team's leading scorers with nine points each, while Holt pulled in eight rebounds and scored eight points. The three seniors will graduate as one of the most successful classes in St. Kate's history and hold a combined 10 school records, including career shooting percentage, career points, career rebounds, and career steals.

Overall, the Wildcats close the season with a 15-11 record and a 9-10 mark in MIAC play, the team's best record since head coach Sean Pinkerton took over four seasons ago.