ST. PAUL, MINN. – In the world of basketball, one must always expect the unexpected, especially at St. Catherine University. St. Kate's has been known to take games from the top teams in both the region and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Wednesday night was no different, as the Wildcats stunned the Saint Mary's University Cardinals 63-59 to open the new year with a conference win.

Despite the final score, things certainly weren't going St. Kate's way early in Saturday night's contest. In fact, it was the Cardinals who were unstoppable early, as the Wildcats had no answer for All-American Brandi Blattner and first year Abby Winter. The two forward scored 11 unanswered points as Saint Mary's opened the game with an 11-0 lead over St. Kate's.

The Wildcats offense finally started to get going thanks to Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins). The senior single-handedly put St. Kate's back in the game by scoring 10 points on her own, cutting the deficit to 18-10 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Although the Cardinals went back ahead by 10, Garcia's run was enough to jump start the Wildcats offense, as they scored eight of the next 10 points and trailed 22-18 at the end of the first quarter.

That little run at the end of the first quarter was a preview of what was to come for St. Kate's. The Wildcats held Saint Mary's to just six points in the second quarter, allowing them to take a 30-28 lead into halftime. Garcia, Meg Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) and Bailee Sillman (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / Chippewa Falls) accounted for the majority of St. Kate's offense in the quarter, while the team held the Cardinals to just two points from the floor, its best defensive quarter of the season.

The Wildcats proceeded to extend their lead in the third quarter, as Clark scored four straight points to give St. Kate's a 34-28 lead. However, Saint Mary's was not about to go quietly into the night, as Blattner and Alexa Huisman kept the Cardinals in the game with back-to-back baskets. Every time Saint Mary's got within two of the lead, St. Kate's did what it's done all season: played tough, gritty defense and hard-nosed offense to regain control of the game. Fortunately, that play allowed the home team to take a 43-36 lead into the fourth and final quarter.

Garcia and Clark both had monster games for the Wildcats, as their second half performances spurred St. Kate's to victory. The two seniors scored 30 of St. Kate's 33 second half points and both of them set career highs in points. They were also clutch down the stretch, as Garcia hit the go-ahead three in the fourth quarter after the Cardinals cut the Wildcats lead to 59-57 with under two minutes remaining. Clark then hit one of two free throws in the final second of the game to seal St. Kate's 63-59 victory.

Garcia was the team's leading scorer Wednesday night as she tallied a career-high 26 points after shooting 9-18 from the floor. Clark added a career-high 21 points in the effort, while Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) led the team with seven rebounds.

With the win, the Wildcats overall record improves to 6-6 and they are now 2-3 in MIAC play. St. Kate's will return to the court Saturday afternoon, when it hosts Bethel University at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.