ST. PAUL, MINN. – So far, 2018 has been extremely kind to the St. Catherine University basketball team. The Wildcats opened the second half of the season with two big wins, including one over a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe earlier this week. On Saturday, St. Kate's was poised to earn its third MIAC win of the season against Bethel University, but turnovers and cold shooting proved costly in the fourth quarter, as the team fell 65-57.

The game had the making of an instant classic. The Royals and Wildcats were deadlocked at 14 after the first quarter, thanks to strong shooting from both teams. St. Kate's held an early 7-4 lead, thanks to an early three from Jackie Radford (St. Paul, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall), but Bethel managed to close to gap early in the quarter. From there, for every basket the Wildcats scored, the Royals had an answer, resulting in the 14-14 tie after the first quarter.

Just like on Wednesday, St. Kate's defense came to life in the second quarter. The Wildcats held the Royals to just seven points while scoring 15 of their own. Radford and the red-hot Alexis Garcia (Minnetonka, Minn. / Hopkins) accounted for most of the St. Kate's baskets in the second quarter, and Bailee Sillman's (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / Chippewa Falls) last second layup pushed St. Kate's ahead 27-20 at the half.

Unfortunately, turnovers proved costly for the Wildcats in the second half. St. Kate's opened the third quarter with back-to-back turnovers before Garcia scored the team's first basket two minutes in. After Garcia scored, the Wildcats seemed to have righted the ship, extending their lead to 35-26 on a jumper from Meg Clark (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo). Sadly, the Royals tight man-to-man defense and three-point shooter Jasmin Bretoi proved too much for St. Kate's late in the third quarter. Bretoi single-handedly whittled the Wildcats lead to just one point and gave Bethel its first lead of the game 40-39 with under two minutes remaining in the quarter.

St. Kate's tried to recover in the fourth quarter but never could regain the momentum it had during the first half.  However, the Wildcats showed grit and determination in the fourth quarter. Trailing by 11 points with six minutes remaining, St. Kate's chipped away at the Royals lead and eventually pulled within one point with 1:29 remaining in regulation. Clark made a key layup under the basket and drew a foul, draining the free throw to make the score 58-57. Unfortunately, less than 20 second later, Bretoi hit another three from the top of the key, which proved to be the dagger, as the Wildcats fell by a final score of 65-57.

Garcia, Clark and Radford all scored in double-digits for St. Kate's Saturday night. Garcia led the team with 17 total points, while Clark and Radford added 13 and 12 respectively. Radford also recorded her third double-double of the season, as she added a team-leading 11 rebounds to go along with her 12 points.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 6-7, and they are 2-4 in MIAC play. St. Kate's will return to action on Wednesday, when it travels to St. Joseph, Minnesota to take on the College of Saint Benedict. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.