The Wildcats clawed their way to a 13-5 lead five minutes after the opening tip-off. They then held a 12-point lead at 22-10 just before the halfway mark of the period.

With St. Catherine up by ten, 36-26, Jackie Kelly (So., Blaine, Minn.) powered through a layup to cut lead to eight at 36-28 with just under a minute to play before halftime. St. Catherine answered with a free throw to go up by nine again, and Mary Wilkowski (So., Savannah, Ga.) then made another layup to bring the scored to 37-30 with seconds to play before halftime.

The Pipers regained the ball on a Wildcat offensive foul, and on the ensuing possession, Gabriella Gustafson (Sr., St. Louis Park, Minn.) cut the Wildcat halftime advantage to five, 37-32, just before the buzzer.

Wilkowski had 10 points in the first half to lead the Pipers, while Nikki Klinck (So., Hibbing, Minn.) had five rebounds. Amy Battey (So., Rochester, Minn.) had 11 points in the first half to lead the Wildcats.

With the St. Catherine lead cut to two (42-40) at 15:16 in the second half, Laura Kalbfell (So., Lakeville, Minn.) made a layup and the free throw attempt after she was fouled to put the Wildcats up by five once again (45-40).

St. Catherine regained a double-digit lead at 57-46 on a pair of three-pointers by Battey that sandwiched a Wilkowski layup around the 12-minute mark of the half.

The Wildcats continued their second half accuracy from outside the arc, draining two more within 30 seconds with less than ten minutes to play to go up 63-46 with the clock at 9:00. St. Catherine stayed in control of the scoreboard from there.

The Pipers were led by 15 points from Wilkowski and 12 from Heinen. Heinen also had a team-high eight rebounds.

St. Catherine was paced by 20 points from Kalbfell and 19 from Battey.

Prior to the start of the game, the Pipers honored five graduating seniors – Gustafson, Heinen, Britta Schwartzhoff (Hayward, Wis.), Jenny Nichols (Rockford, Minn.), and Grace Weinreich (Wahkon, Minn.). At halftime, the Pipers presented Heinen with a game ball from the February 7th game at Gustavus at which she reached 1,000 career points.

The Pipers are now 15-9, 12-9 MIAC with the conference loss. The Wildcats improve to 14-10, 11-10 MIAC. Hamline will play their final regular season game on Saturday, February 21. The game will be a 5:00 p.m. tip-off at St. Thomas. Note that this is a change from the originally scheduled start time.

The Pipers will begin play in the 2008-09 MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday, February 24, at 7:30 p.m. Their opponent and the game’s venue will be determined by Saturday’s results around the conference.