After Concordia's big upset win over UST, I made the short run down those God-forsaken St. Paul streets over to St. Kate's Butler Center for the 3:00 P.M. contest with Macalester. I got settled in at the Butler Center with Macalester holding a 14-9 lead at the 10:50 mark.
The Scots were able to take advantage of the flat start by host St. Kate's and soon upped that lead to ten as senior reserve guard Erika Weimann drilled a "3" with 9:56 left and junior reserve forward Annie Drabot made a drive into the lane for a finish with 9:21 left. St. Kate's Head Coach Sean Pinkerton had already shed that sport coat by the time I arrived; most likely in hopes that his squad would start feeling some warmth as well. The Wildcats finally started heating up when reserve sophomore guard/forward Shauna Horsch knocked down back to back "3's" with 7:27 and 6:48 left that quickly had St. Kate's to within four at 19-15. Macalester would try to keep the 'Cats at bay as senior guard Emma Leyden connected with a jumper from the top just inside the arc with 6:28 left and fellow senior guard Taylor Pike found the range from behind the arc from the right top area with 5:36 left that had the blue-clad Scots back up by a count of 24-17. But St. Kate's would come right back behind a "3' from senior guard/forward Kristen Lee and three charity stripe shots by freshman phenom guard/forward LaShay Holt after she got fouled on a shot attempt behind the arc with 3:54 left. Kristen Lee; the Dawson native, drained another "3" with 3:29 left; this one from the left wing area that put St. Kate's into the lead at 26-24. More freebies by Holt upped that lead to 29-24 with 2:50 left but the Scots had one last push in the first half as both sophomore guard Erin Murray and senior reserve forward Kathryn Medinger were able to get points in the paint as was senior post Veronika Jakubovie with 1:21 left that knotted the issue at 30-all. Junior guard Jenna Mistler put St. Kate's back in front with two free throws with 1:07 left but Macalester's sophomore reserve guard Katelyn Kack was able to connect with a short jumper along the right side of the basket with :53 left and, as a result, both teams went into the locker room at the half with things deadlocked at 32-all.
The 'Cats and Scots would trade one-point leads in the opening minutes of the second half before St. Kate's finally was able to open up a bit of distance on their opponent. Holding that precarious one-point advantage at 38-37, Holt knocked down a "3" from the left wing at the 13:27 mark for a 41-37 'Cat lead. Freshman guard Abby Torgerson made two free throws after getting fouled at the 11:02 mark. Macalester's Murray hit a "3" from the right top area at the 10:37 mark that trimmed the St. Kate's advantage but Horsch made good on a lay-up at the 10:13 mark and then it was Kristen Lee again draining a "3" from the left wing area for a 48-40 Wildcat advantage with 9:31 left. Macalester tried to counter with scores from both Jakubovie and Leyden but St. Kate's clearly had the momentum in their favor by this point and, more importantly, their athleticism was beginning to take its toll on the Scots.
Just as she had earlier in the week against Bethel, Mistler was seemingly all over the court on both ends of the floor trying to make things happen for her team. Besides playing lights out defense, the Austin, Texas native also has a knack for scoring as well as she banged home a "3' from the right top area with 6:21 left to make it a nine-point game at 53-44. Horsch was also able to connect with a medium-range jumper from the right baseline with 4:52 left four a 55-44 St. Kate's advantage. Mistler also connected with a tough lay-up in transition to maintain that double-digit advantage at 57-46 with 3:44 left. Macalester Head Coach Ellen Thompson called a timeout shortly thereafter in vain hopes of overcoming this deficit although her team didn't think it was quite so far-fetched. Holt did connect with a lay-up for the 'Cats with 2:55 left but a short jumper in the lane by Murray and a jumper from the right elbow by Kack along with two "3's" by Murray - one with 1:16 left that cut the deficit to six at 61-55 and an encore performance from the top of the key with :58.9 left that had the St. Kate's lead cut to a single possession at 61-58 still allowed Macalester to have a wisp of hope. But two critical free throws by Mistler and a steal and lay-up the other way by Torgerson provided insurance for the Wildcats as they claimed a 65-59 win.
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