ST. PAUL, Minn. — Oh so close.
 
The Saint Mary's University women's basketball team put together one of its best quarters of the season, erupting for 23 third-quarter points in erasing a four-point halftime deficit and taking a 51-48 lead into the game's final 10-minute session.
 
Unfortunately, the fourth quarter was not as kind to Saint Mary's, as St. Catherine outscored SMU 16-8 in dealing the Cardinals a 64-59 nonconference setback Monday evening at Butler Center Gym.
 
After both teams took turns playing with the lead early, the Wildcats grabbed the early momentum, scoring six of the final seven points — including the last five of the quarter — to break a 10-10 tie and take a 16-11 lead after the game's first 10 minutes.
 
Katelyn Cruze (Litchfield, Minn.) got the Cardinals within one, 16-15 — converting a three-point play and adding another 1-for-2 effort from the free throw line — to open the second quarter. A Grace Schaffer (Farmington, Minn.) 3-pointer pulled Saint Mary's even at 18-18, but the Wildcats would answer with a 14-7 burst to grab a seven-point, 32-25 edge. Zoe Fink (Stevens Point, Wis.) cut the SCU lead to four — beating the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer — to leave SMU staring at a 32-28 deficit at the intermission.
 
A Maddie Wall (Cameron, Wis.) 3-pointer capped a 10-6 quarter-opening run to get SMU even with the Wildcats, 38-38. But each time the Cardinals closed the gap, St. Catherine would knock down a 3-pointer to reclaim the third-quarter momentum.
 
Saint Mary's finally got over the hump, grabbing its first lead since early in the first quarter — thanks to three straight field goals by Kali Olson (New York Mills, Minn.) and another by Riley Schiernbeck (Ida Grove, Iowa) with just over a minute to play. SCU knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the game at 48-48, but Anelise Maccoux (Mukwonago, Wis.) closed out the third quarter in much the same fashion in which Fink ended the half — burying a 3-pointer to give SMU a 51-48 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
 
The Wildcats opened the final stanza with five unanswered points — and ended it with a 4-0 run — to seal the win.
 
A 3-pointer and field goal to kick off the quarter gave SCU a 53-51 edge, only to have Cruze and Schiernbeck deliver field goals of their own to give Saint Mary's back the lead, 55-53. The game would be tied three more times in the final minutes, but St. Catherine would get a driving layup from Mattie Fox and, after a pair of missed SMU 3-point attempts, Greta Schimnowski would seal the five-point win with a pair of free throws with 5.3 ticks on the clock.
 
Cruze finished with 14 points and Schaffer chipped in 12 for the Cardinals, who fall to 2-13 overall)
 
Saint Mary's returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, heading to St. Joseph, Minn., for a 7 p.m. showdown against Saint Benedict.
  Read Full Article