ST. PAUL, MINN. – With Christmas fast approaching, the St. Catherine University basketball team was hoping to end its semester on a high note. After a thrilling win over Macalester College on Wednesday, the Wildcats were hoping to keep things rolling with a win over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Saturday afternoon. Sadly, St. Kate's could not pull out a win, falling to UW-River Falls by a final score of 75-63.
Historically, games between the Wildcats and Falcons have been intense, as the past three games have been decided by two points or less. Despite the final score, Saturday's game was equally intense, especially in the third quarter, when St. Kate's scored seven straight points to whittle UW-River Falls lead to eight points.
However, the Wildcats offense struggled in the first half, as foul trouble kept top scorer Danica Cambrice (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) off the floor for most of the half. St. Kate's shot 32% from the field in the first half and failed to make a three-pointer in the first 20 minutes of play. On the field side, the Falcons were on fire offensively, especially from behind the arc. UW-River Falls shots 52% from the floor and 46% from the three-point line, allowing the visitors to take a 41-20 lead at half time.
The Wildcats offense started to show signs of life at the start of the third quarter, as did their defense. Cambrice kicked off the quarter by drawing a foul inside and draining two free throws, cutting the Falcons lead to 41-22. Early on, though, UW-River Falls had an answer for every basket St. Kate's scored. After Meg Clark's (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) layup cut the lead to 17, the Falcons scored five unanswered points to regain a 48-26 lead over the Wildcats.
It was Cambrice, Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) and Ashley Fosness (Britton, S.D. / Britton-Hecla) who ignited St. Kate's offense late in the third quarter. Fosness scored a career-high nine points in the game, including four during the Wildcats 9-2 run in the third. Fosness scored those four points, forced a steal and assisted on a Cambrice three in a 45 second span to cut UW-River Falls lead to 50-38 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Fosness also had a hand in the play that got St. Kate's within 10 of the Falcons lead. With 37 second remaining in the third quarter, Fosness found a wide open Mackenzie Dettman (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson), who buried the shot from the free throw line to reduce the Wildcats deficit to 50-40. Thirty seconds later, Bailee Sillman (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / Chippewa Falls) buried two free throws, keeping the momentum on St. Kate's.
The Wildcats only trailed 50-42 entering the fourth quarter. Sadly, St. Kate's couldn't keep up the intensity in the fourth and final quarter, particularly on defense. UW-River Falls scored 11 points off turnovers in the final 10 minutes and 16 in the paint, and the Wildcats did not have an answer on offense. St. Kate's also struggled to stay out of foul trouble in the fourth quarter, as Cambrice fouled out with four minutes remaining in regulation, resulting in the 75-63 loss.
Cambrice led all scorers for the second time this week, scoring 19 points in 26 minutes of play. Radford added 11 points, while Clark led the team and tied her career-high in rebounds with seven.
With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 4-6. St. Kate's will return to the court on December 30, when it hosts the University of Minnesota-Morris at 3 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.