St. Joseph, Minn. -- The Saint Benedict basketball team (3-1, 0-1 MIAC) dropped its first game of the 2013-14 season today, losing in by a 70-69 score in dramatic fashion to the Wildcats of St. Catherine (2-2, 1-0 MIAC).
 
The Wildcats jumped on the sluggish Blazers in the first half, shooting an impressive 15-for-25 from the floor en route to taking a 40-30 halftime lead. They were led by sophomore guard Gabby Zehrer who scored 18 of her 24 points in the first half.
 
The Blazers rallied back early in the second half, using a 9-to-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from senior forward Morgan "Windex" Dale (Jamestown, N.D.) to cut the Wildcat lead to 46-45 with 15:19 left to play. Four minutes later two free throws from senior guard Brianna Barrett (Annandale, Minn.) gave the Blazers their first lead of the game at 52-50 with 12:47 left on the clock. That lead grew to as big as seven, with 5:53 left in the game when a layup from junior forward Elena Koch (Farmington, Minn.) grew the Blazer lead to 64-57.
 
The Wildcats rallied back to take the lead for good with 23 seconds left when Wildcat forward Abby Torgeson stole the ball off an inbound pass from first-year forward Annie Dittberner (New Prague, Minn.) and converted it into a layup to put the Wildcats up, 69-67. Barrett nearly tied the game on the Blazers' ensuing possession with a jump shot that bounced on every part of the rim before bouncing away and falling into the hands of Wildcat forward Lee Mari.
 
Mari was fouled immediately by Barrett and made one-of-two free throws on the other end to extend the Wildcat lead to 70-67 with 4.9 seconds on the clock. On their final possession the Blazers threw the ball deep to a streaking Barrett who drove into the paint, attempting to get the basket and the foul to tie the game. No foul was called and she missed the shot. The rebound was put back by first-year forward Alison Newton (Oronoco, Minn.) but no foul was called, ending the game in a Blazers loss, 70-69.
 
The loss marks the first time the Wildcats have beaten the Blazers in St. Joseph since resurrecting their program prior to the 1997-98 season.
 
Barrett led the Blazers scorers' with a season-high 19 points, keeping her streak alive of eight straight games scoring in double-digits.
 
"Windex" led the Blazers in rebounding for the fourth time in four games this season, racking in 14 boards to go along with her 15 points. That gives Dale her team-leading third double-double of the season. She also improved her conference-leading rebounding average to 12.3 rebounds per game.
 
The Blazers return to action this Saturday when they travel to Saint Mary's to take on the Cardinals. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p m.