By ALEX NUEHRING
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. — After losing to St. Catherine by four points in their first meeting on Jan. 3, the Saint Mary's University women's basketball team was looking for redemption as they hosted the Wildcats in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown Wednesday evening.
 
And thanks to 7-4 run to end the fourth quarter and force the game into overtime, it appeared like the Cardinals would on track to earn that redemption.
 
St. Catherine, however, had other ideas, outscoring Saint Mary's 8-6 in the five-minute overtime period in dealing the Cardinals a 69-67 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
After a sluggish start to the opening quarter, the Cardinals finally broke the ice on a 3-pointer by Alexa Huisman (Adrian, Minn.), but an 8-2 Wildcat run gave St. Catherine a 10-5 lead with 2:20 remaining in the opening 10-minute period.
 
Kirsten Keefe (Chatfield, Minn.) swung the momentum back to the Cardinals with a 3-pointer and Brandi Blattner (Eyota, Minn.) made a pair of free throws to tie the game, 10-10, at end of the first quarter.
 
St. Catherine came out smoking to open the second stanza, scoring nine of the first 11 points to grab a 21-15 lead with 5:56 left until halftime. Enter Huisman—the Cardinals' lone senior—who drained a pair of 3-pointers—to cut the Cardinal deficit to two, 23-21 with 4:24 left in the half. Saint Mary's followed by outscoring SCU 6-5 over the final 4:24 to whittle the Wildcats' lead to one, 28-27, at the break.
 
Saint Mary's appeared to take control early in the third quarter, getting four points from Blattner and a 3-pointer by Claire Patterson (Marine, Minn.) to fuel a quarter-opening 9-2 run and give the Cardinals a four-point lead, 38-34 midway through the third quarter. The four-point lead did not last long, however, as St. Catherine ended the quarter on a 6-2 run to knot the game at 40-40 heading into the game's final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
The Cardinals opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from Huisman and Patterson, but the Wildcats came roaring back, scoring six of the next eight points to trim the Saint Mary's lead to two, 48-46 with 7:35 left in the game.
 
St. Catherine regained the upper hand, using a 13-8 run to grab a three-point, 59-56 lead, only to have the Cardinals finish regulation by scoring seven of the last 11 point—including a game-tying layup by Abby Winter (Winona, Minn.) with five seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 61-61
 
St. Catherine started overtime on a 7-3 run, with all of Saint Mary's points coming from the free throw line. Huisman was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of her three free throws to trim the Wildcats' lead to two, 68-66. Blattner followed by making one of two free throws on Saint Mary's next possession—and the Cardinals made another defensive stand to gain control of the ball with 16 seconds left and down by one point.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals could not get their last-second field goal attempt to fall, as the Wildcats completed their two-game season sweep of Saint Mary's—and snapped SMU's five-game winning streak in the process.
 
Huisman led the way for the Cardials' offense, scoring 21 points,while Blattner—facing nearly constant double teams—added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Patterson set a new career-high with 13 points.
 
The Wildcats were led by Danica Cambrice, who scored 19 points—before fouling out early in the overtime period—while Ashley Fosness chipped in 10 points.
 
Saint Mary's (7-6 MIAC, 12-8 overall) returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Bethel's Robertson Center in Arden Hills, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference matchup against the Royals.