RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- The St. Catherine University basketball team put together a gritty defensive performance on Tuesday night at Page Arena but couldn't generate enough late offense, falling 47-40 to Wisconsin River Falls in a tight non conference match up. The loss puts the Wildcats at 5-3 on the season overall.
The first quarter set the tone as both defenses forced tough shots and turnovers. St. Kate's opened with energy, building an early lead behind transition buckets recording three steals in the opening ten minutes. The Wildcats held the Falcons to just eleven points and enter the second quarter tied 11-11.
Offensively, both teams continued to grind through defensive pressure in the second quarter.
Kate Flicek knocked down a key three and added a perfect 2 for 2 trip to the line helping the Wildcats stay within striking distance. Despite the effort on the glass, where St. Kate's out rebounded River Falls 15-5 in the quarter-the Falcons used timely shooting to take a 26-23 halftime lead.
The Wildcats made their strongest push in the third. After falling behind, St. Kate's rallied to tie the game at 28–28 behind a pair of steals, a corner three from
Jordyn Peed, and strong interior play from
Hattie Fox. The momentum continued as Peed added a jumper and Fox buried another three to keep the Wildcats within one possession heading into the fourth, trailing 38–33.
St. Kate's trimmed the deficit to just two after a deep three from
Kristen Oberle made it 40–38 with 6:36 to play. However, River Falls answered with clutch free throws and late possessions that kept the game just out of reach. Despite several defensive stops down the stretch, the Wildcats' shots wouldn't fall, and the Falcons closed the game from the line.
Peed led St. Catherine with 14 points while adding three steals and four rebounds. Fox followed with 11 points and seven boards, and Oberle chipped in six points and five rebounds.
Lily Peper controlled the glass defensively, posting a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Wildcats are off until Saturday, December 6 hosting Bethel University at 1 pm and close out 2025 with a trip to Duluth to face the College of St. Scholastica on Friday, December 12.
