12/31/06

Katie Cross' jumper with exactly 60 seconds to play gave the Saints a 64-62 lead over Wesleyan (Conn.) University, but an Ali Fourney 3-pointer with 48 ticks left gave the Cardinal back the lead and Steph Savas' free throw increased their lead to two with 16 seconds left. With one last chance, St. Scholastica's Whitney Latham tossed up her own 3-point try with six seconds remaining but the attempt was no good as Wesleyan escaped with a 66-64 victory over the Saints in the final game for both teams at the Grand Canyon Classic in Phoenix, Arizona.

The contest was one that almost seemed to be played in quarters rather than halves.

Wesleyan broke out to a 15 point lead nearing the halfway point of the first half, but the Saints fought back behind Latham's 13 points to even the score at 31 apiece as each team headed to their own locker room at the intermission.

Through the opening half of the second 20 minutes, the Saints were the team on fire stretching out to a 14 point lead, but then it was Wesleyan's turn to mount the come back which came full circle with Fourney's 3-pointer that gave them their final lead in the contest.

Latham finished with a game-high 21 points for the Saints. Senior teammate Heather Saralampi chipped in with 13 and was the game's leading rebounder as she finished with eight in the loss.

The real story of the game, though, was free throws, or lack thereof by the Saints.

Wesleyan (7-2 overall) aggressively drove to the basket all game long and, continually fouled by the Saints, finished 24-for-30 (80 %) from the charity stripe. St. Scholastica (3-7, 0-1 UMAC) on the other hand, stepped to the line only four times the entire game and -- though they were sailing along at a 74 percent clip entering the game -- were successful only one time from the stripe (25%).

After starting the season 3-2, the loss to the Cardinal is now the fifth in a row for the Saints who will try to arrest their slide with their first game in the new year, a home contest against UW-River Falls on January 4th at 6 p.m. in the Reif Center. The Saints defeated the Falcons 69-56 last season on River Falls' home floor.