ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Energetic defense, timely three-point shooting and a never-give-up attitude carried the Wildcats to a great win over St. Ben's Thursday night. By successfully overcoming a 12-point fourth quarter deficit, St. Kate's improved their record to 6-3 overall, 5-2 in the conference.
Bree Glynn was outstanding with 13 points, 6 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Karis Zezza and
Greta Schimnowski contributed 9 points each.
At the start, good perimeter defense from the Wildcats (they entered the game with the MIAC's second-best defense against three-pointers) led to St. Ben's missing their first five shots and starting the game 0-8 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats struggled a bit with turnovers, making the first quarter a low-scoring affair: 9-8 in favor of St. Kate's. Near the start of the second quarter, St Ben's took the lead, but a
Rachel Randleman three quickly gave it back to the home team. While St. Ben's started shooting a bit better,
Bree Glynn had two consecutive put-back buckets, and so the see-saw battle continued. A three-point play in the final second of the first half gave the Bennies a 4-point advantage.
The Bennies carried that momentum into the 3
rd quarter, and quickly extended their lead to double digits. St.Kate's offense struggled to restart: they didn't score a field goal until a
Bree Glynn breakaway with 4:08 left in the quarter cut the deficit to 9. That play started a nice run that saw them cut the lead to 5. St. Ben's answered that run, however, and pushed their lead to 11 by the quarter's end. The first points of the fourth came from a Zezza three, but a pair of buckets by the Bennies pushed the margin to a dozen with 8 minutes left. After a Glynn layup, Schimnowski hit two consecutive three-pointers, and it was game-on. Solid team defense and baskets by Zezza, Schimnowski (another three!), and Glynn gave the Wildcats a 3-point lead, but a St. Ben's free throw and three-pointer saw them up by 1 with a minute remaining. A clutch offensive rebound and layup by
Sam Orth with 46 seconds left put the Wildcats back on top, and impressive defense sealed the deal.
The Wildcats have another conference game on Saturday afternoon on the road against Concordia.
