ST. PAUL, MINN. – The ride has been a little bumpy for the St. Catherine University basketball team this past week. After opening the second half of the season with two consecutive wins, the Wildcats have hit a bit of a rough patch, losing two tight games to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opponents. On Saturday, St. Kate's was hoping to end its two-game conference skid but unfortunately came up short against the Hamline University Pipers, falling by a final score of 64-57.

The Wildcats outplayed Hamline in the first quarter of play, jumping out to a 17-13 lead thanks to 42% shooting from the field. Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) scored 10 of her team leading 18 first half points to lead St. Kate's offense in the opening 10 minutes of play and helped the Wildcats take a 16-7 lead in the opening seven minutes of the game.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to silence the Pipers early in the game, as the home team closed the first quarter with a 6-to-1 scoring run, allowing them to cut the Wildcats lead to 17-13. At the start of the second quarter, it was clear the momentum shifted in Hamline's direction, as the Pipers took their first lead of the game 24-22 three minutes in.

The Wildcats traded the lead with Hamline multiple times in the ensuing minutes before the Pipers took control at 3:51. Hamline scored seven unanswered points in a minute and a half to take a 31-25 lead over St. Kate's with two minutes remaining in the first half. The Wildcats did manage to score four unanswered points of their own to end the quarter, resulting in a 31-29 Piper lead at the half.

Other than Garcia, St. Kate's struggled to put points on the board in the opening half, and those struggles continued in the second. Hamline jumped out to a 39-31 lead in the third quarter as the Wildcats struggled to capitalize on Piper turnovers and score points. However, St. Kate's seemed to find its stride midway through the quarter, as Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Bryon) hit a huge three from the corner to cut Hamline's lead to 39-34. Thirty seconds later, Garcia followed suite by hitting a three of her own, and the Wildcats only trailed by two with four minutes remaining in the third.

The three-pointers continued for both teams in the final three minutes of play in the third quarter. In fact, the only time a team scored a basket other than a three was at 4:14, when the Pipers Violet Kennedy hit one of two free throws to extend Hamline's lead to 40-37. After that, it was an onslaught of threes. St Kate's senior guard Meg Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) kicked things off by making a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 40-40 before Hamline retook a 43-40 lead with a trey of its own. Garcia tied the game, again with a shot from beyond the arc, and Clark gave the Wildcats their first lead of the second half, 45-43, with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

After the barrage of threes, St. Kate's was confident it could hold its newfound lead in the fourth and final quarter. The fourth quarter, though, proved to be the closest of the game, as there were seven ties and six lead changes in the final 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the Wildcats had to resort to fouling, as a three-pointer gave the Pipers a 60-57 advantage with 53 seconds remaining in the game. Hamline connected on every free throw, and St. Kate's was unable to score in its final possessions, resulting in the 64-57 loss.

Garcia was the Wildcats leading scorer on the night, scoring a career-high 32 points in the loss while pulling in a team-leading eight rebounds. Clark added seven points, while sophomore forward Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) pulled in five rebounds.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 6-9, and the team is 2-6 in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the court on Wednesday, when they host Concordia College at 7 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.