ST. PAUL, Minn. —The Wildcats improved their MIAC record to 2-1 with an impressive win against the visiting Scots on Wednesday night. St. Kate's turned excellent defense into offense, forcing 16 turnovers and turning those into 19 points.
Sam Orth led the effort, putting in 14 points and pulling down 7 boards.
Emme Golembiewski scored 13 points (6 of 9 from the floor) and also had 7 rebounds. The well-rounded attack included 11 points from
Greta Schimnowski (who hit 3-threes) and 10 points from
Karis Zezza.
The game started slowly with neither team scoring during the first 4 minutes. Mac inched ahead 8-4, but in the last 2 minutes of the quarter,
Sam Orth hit three layups, with the last one tying the score 10-10. At the beginning of the second quarter, each team hit their first 3-point attempt. Then St. Kate's dialed up the defensive pressure, which seemed to send the Scots out of synch—the visitors managed only one field goal in the last nine-and-a-half minutes of the frame. Meanwhile, five different Wildcats scored, and the first half ended with the home team up 24-15.
The Wildcats picked up where they left off in the third, and pushed the lead to 14 when
Sam Orth scored again from close range to make the score 31-17. Then the Scots put together a 12-6 run to cut the lead to single digits. But St. Kate's responded with a run of their own, and the third ended with the home team up by 16 points. They pushed the lead to 20 pints in the fourth, and while Mac was twice able to trim that to a dozen points, the quick defense of the Wildcats kept them at bay.
The Wildcats' next game is December 3
rd at St. Scholastica.
