ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University basketball team has come a long way, especially these last four seasons. The Wildcats have gone from bottom dwellers in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to a conference playoff contender. On Saturday, St. Kate's will honor two integral members of the team's turnaround, as the team will recognize seniors Meg Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) and Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) before its 3 p.m. game against Hamline University.
Live stats and video will be available to those who cannot attend in person, while score updates can be found on St. Kate's official Twitter page (@stkateswildcats).
Here is a special "senior" edition of the five things to know before Saturday's tip off:
49 – In four years with the Wildcats, Clark and Garcia have compiled an even overall record of 49-49 and have been a part of one of the most historic program turnarounds in St. Kate's history. The two seniors helped St. Kate's post back-to-back winning seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17 for the first time in nearly 10 years and also led the Wildcats to their first MIAC playoff appearance since the 2009-10 season.
4 – Garcia set career-highs in four different categories during her senior season, including points (32), rebounds (8), assists (4) and steals (4). Her 32 point performance against Hamline in early January is tied for third all-time in single-game scoring and was the second 30+ point performance by a St. Kate's student-athlete this season.
1 – Clark recorded the first double-double of her career back in December, when she had a monster performance in a win over UM-Morris. The senior guard scored 14 points and pulled in a career-high 11 rebounds, marking one of her best individual performances of her career as a Wildcats.
16.3 – Garcia was named the MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week back on January 8 after leading St. Kate's to a 2-1 record in its return to competition. On January 3, she led the Wildcats to their second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win of the year, as St. Kate's stunned Saint Mary's University 63-59 behind Garcia's then career-high 26 point performance. She averaged 16.3 points per game during the week and accounted for nearly 50% of the Wildcats offense.
22 – Clark also had a career day against the Cardinals back in early January. While Garcia led the team in scoring with 26 points, Clark added 22 of her own in the victory, marking her best scoring performance of the season.
