ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Assistant Coach
Geno Bullard has said he wants to convince these players they can beat anybody in the conference; Wednesday's win over a very good Augsburg team will help him make his case. The Auggies had won their last two, with their last victory over Hamline knocking that team out of first place in the MIAC. On Wednesday, St. Kate's defended Augsburg's outstanding scorers relentlessly, and managed an impressive win at home 54-52, the team's first win over the Auggies since February 2018. With the victory, the Wildcats are now 7-3 in the conference, 8-4 overall.
Offensively, things started slowly, as both teams came up empty on their first few possessions. St. Kate's played suffocating defense and effectively denied passes into the post. Then St. Kate's got going. When
Bree Glynn scored off her offensive rebound to put the Wildcats up 6-2, the Auggies called timeout and drew up a three ball that they hit to pull within a point. After the teams traded some layups, another Auggie three put them up by 2 with a minute and a half left in the frame. It looked like the quarter would end that way, but as
Kaylee Miron struggled to get off a last second shot from distance, Augsburg fouled her. Miron hit all three free-throws to put St. Kate's up 13-12.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, both
Rachel Randleman and
Greta Schimnowski hit three pointers, and the Wildcats looked to be on their way. But Augsburg started finding success in the paint, and an Auggie layup with 4 minutes in the half gave them a 2-point lead. St Kate's then closed out the quarter with a 9-1 run capped by a
Kaylee Miron layup off of a
Sam Orth steal that made the score 32-26 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats moved the ball well and had several good looks at the basket, but didn't have as many fall in as they might expect. Still, they kept the defensive pressure on Augsburg and did not relinquish the lead. Three pointers by
Kaylee Miron and
Greta Schimnowski in the final minute of the third gave St. Kate's a 46-39 lead.
Rachel Randleman opened the scoring in the final frame with a layup and then took a charge at the other end. But then the game got tighter. Augsburg went on an 11-3 run (repeatedly scoring as the shot clock nearly ran out) to make it a one-point game, with two minutes left. After another toughly defended possession, Augsburg scored with 23 seconds left to take the lead. St. Kate's responded, with
Sam Orth driving to the basket and scoring with 11 seconds remaining in the game. Good defense, strong rebounding, and a
Karis Zezza free throw gave the Wildcats the 2-point win.
Kaylee Miron had 11 points and
Sam Orth had nine;
Maddie Young and
Greta Schimnowski each scored 8;
Bree Glynn led the Wildcats in rebounds with 8.
The Wildcats finish their homestand with a 3 pm game against Gustavus on Saturday.
