Was at St. Kate's Butler Center for a Wednesday night matchup between visiting Macalester and the host Wildcats. Despite the Wildcats recent struggles this looked like a very competitive game and I would not be let down in that aspect.
Macalester drew first blood on this night with a signature "3" from Shannone Rene in the left corner for a quick 3-0 Scot lead but the Wildcats would quickly respond. Senior Sonja Ellingson finished a tough drive inside and a bit later freshman Kristen Lee drained a "3" from the top of the key for a 5-3 St. Kate's lead. Things would stay very close for the next several minutes and after Ellingson hit another "3" from the right corner to tie the issue at 13-all at the 10:57 mark, Macalester got a bit of a lift from unheralded freshman Erin Bloomfield-Bortz out of Carmel, Indiana. She knocked down two quick buckets that gave Macalester a four point advantage but the 'Cats would soon battle back. With the score tied at 21, Wildcat sophomore Adele Simerson-Wallfred hit a long two-pointer at the 4:42 mark and after Ellingson hit a turnaround jumper Simerson-Wallfred would get inside on a drive and finish off the glass and suddenly it looked like St. Kate's had some real momentum leading 27-21. Now it was the Scots turn to respond. Juniors Holly Schiedermayer and Audrey Mills each scored inside and then Shannon Rene let loose with a "3" from the right wing at the 1:10 mark. Sophomore guard Kyanna Jones sliced St. Kate's lead to a mere one point when she hit a two pointer from the left corner and that's how the teams went into the locker room with St. Kate's clinging to a 31-30 lead.
The first 5 to 6 minutes of the second half seemed to be a replay of the tightly contested first half. Then, at the 15:35 mark Macalester slowly but surely began to take control. Jessica Rene drove inside and finished to tie things once again at 36-all. Then sister Shannon Rene put down two free throws after being fouled that gave the Scots the lead that they would never relinquish. The 'Cats would keep things close but each time they threatened to either tie the game or perhaps re-take the lead the Scots always had a better answer. With the lead teetering between three and five points, Macalester pushed it to seven points on senior post Majra Mucic's finish inside. The scrappy Wildcats would claw back and cut Macalester's lead down to four points once again but just when you thought they might bring it back all the way Shannon Rene put a dagger in the heart of the home team with her three-point bomb at exactly the 3:00 minute mark that would give the Scots the cushion that allowed them to milk the clock and finish things off from the charity stripe and earn a 71-58 victory.
The Wildcats did a good job of keeping things very close for the most part but simply couldn't get the key defensive stops when they really, really needed them. And credit head coach Ellen Thompson and her team for making an unlikely push to get themselves in the mix for a playoff spot. This is a program that obviously is not the most talented in the conference but they play very smart and very well together and if the Rene sisters are on from the perimeter, LOOK OUT!!
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