Saturday women: Cats and Camels top big dogs

More news about: Albright | Connecticut College | George Fox | St. Catherine
Dec 12, 2015
LaShay Holt has scored double-figures in all but one of St. Catherine's games so far.
 File photo by Michelle Perri, St. Catherine athletics

St. Catherine and Connecticut College knocked off highly ranked opponents while Albright, Bluffton and York (Pa.) kept rolling toward the semester break.

St. Catherine evened its conference record by upsetting unbeaten St. Thomas 67-63. LaShay Holt sparked a 17-4 run for St. Catherine to put the Wildcats in front 56-43. Holt scored eight of her team-high 22 points during that stretch.

No. 7 St. Thomas responded with an 11-0 run to pull within 56-54 with six minutes left. The Tommies still trailed by two with 36 seconds left but couldn't get the ball back. St. Catherine grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot and then hit two free throws to ice the game.

Holt and Shauna Horsch each hit three 3-pointers for St. Catherine (7-2, 2-2 MIAC) which shot 50 percent from behind the arc. Kaitlin Langer had 23 points and 14 rebounds for St. Thomas (8-1, 3-1 MIAC).

Connecticut College has flown under the radar with no votes in the Top 25 poll despite being undefeated. That's likely to change after the Camels dumped No. 8 Tufts 61-55. Conn College led the entire game despite 23 turnovers. Michela North had 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Tufts, but the rest of the team shot 23 percent (10-for-43).

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps led No. 2 George Fox for almost the entire game and held a 48-22 halftime advantage over the visiting Bruins. But George Fox mounted a furious comeback, outscoring the Athenas 22-4 in the third quarter to get back into the game and then pulled ahead 64-62 late in the fourth quarter. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps had free throws with eight seconds left to tie the game but only made one of two and George Fox escaped, 64-63. 

After sitting out Thomas More's first five games while the NCAA conducted a compliance review, reigning Division III player of the year Sydney Moss returned to the Saints lineup with a bang. She scored 19 points to become the Saints' all-time leading scorer in 95-37 win over Grove City. Thomas More shut out the Wolverines 27-0 in the second quarter.

No. 24 Ohio Northern stayed undefeated in the OAC by knocking off No. 22 Capital, 58-46. The Polar Bears outscored the Crusaders 22-4 in the paint.

No. 5 UW-Oshkosh topped MWC champion St. Norbert 62-48 to stay unbeaten. Taylor Schmidt had 18 points and Emma Melotik added 12 off the bench for the Titans (8-0). Brooke Trewyn just missed a double-double (10 points, nine rebounds) for UW-Whitewater as the 15th ranked Warhawks defeated Coe, 73-61.

No. 16 Muhlenberg held off crosstown rival DeSales, 86-78. Brandi Vallely narrowly missed posting her fourth triple-double of the season for the Mules, finishing with 22 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds.

All-American Katie McDaniels filled the stat sheet again for No. 10 Wheaton (Ill.) in the Thunder's 67-64 win at Loras. McDaniels led the team in scoring (24), assists (four) and steals (three). Last year's national rookie of the year had a monster game as a sophomore. Alexandra Leslie posted 25 points and 21 rebounds, and No. 21 Rochester needed all of it to get past Ithaca, 74-71.

Morgan Kuehne and York (Pa.) powered past Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon.
 York (Pa.) athletics photo 

Beyond the Top 25: Albright, Bluffton and York (PA) still perfect

York (Pa.) topped Mary Washington 55-48 in a battle of undefeated CAC teams. The Spartans turned 21 Eagles' turnovers into 22 points. York's Sam Hruz posted a game-high 18 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks.

Albright won its ninth straight game while ending Moravian's nine-game streak, 73-66. Kelecia Harris had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lions who made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off the Greyhounds.

Bluffton's surprising undefeated start is still going strong after the Beavers ground out a 45-36 win over Rose-Hulman. Bluffton (7-0) set a new program record for consecutive wins in a single season. 

WIAC teams put up some impressive numbers in non-conference play. UW-Stevens Point built a 26-point halftime lead at Illinois Wesleyan en route to a 68-50 victory. Madison Johnson enjoyed herself against run-and-gun North Central (Ill.) as the UW-Eau Claire forward scored 42 points in the Blugolds' 94-88 win over the Cardinals.

Bryn Mawr defeated Immaculata 66-48 to pick up its third win of the season. The Owls had three wins combined in their previous five seasons.