Second half defense leads Macalester over St. Carherine

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Majra Mucic (Sr,. Zenica, Bosnia / St. Louis Park – Minn.) matched a career-high with 22 points and also had 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to lead host Macalester to its first win over the season, a 58-51 triumph over St. Catherine at the Leonard Center. The Scots trailed 36-26 at the intermission, but held St. Kate's to 15 points and 20% shooting (5-for-25) in the second half.

After dropping their first five games of the campaign, the Scots move to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the MIAC. St. Kate's drops to 2-3 on the season, 1-2 in the MIAC.

Holly Schiedermayer (Jr., Waupaca, Wis.) added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Shannon Rene (Jr., Eau Claire, Wis. / Memorial) dished out five assists. Kyanna Jones (So., Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) led the defense with three steals and helped Mac register a +4 turnover advantage.

Laura Kalbfell produced 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Wildcats. Sonja Ellingson finished with 12 points and eight boards.

The Wildcats scored the game's first five points and were on top the entire first half, leading by 10 points at halftime. An eight-point deficit at 42-34 with 13:13 to play, however, didn't deter Macalester, which out-scored its guests 24-9 the rest of the way.

With a two-point lead at 50-48, Mucic canned a three-pointer with 3:07 left to put Mac up by five points and that was as close as SCU got.  Mucic tallied her team's final 10 points.