ST. PAUL, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team cut a 10-point gap down to one, but couldn't pull away for the win Wednesday night against St. Kate's. The Blazers missed an opportunity for a last-second shot and fell 57-56 to the Wildcats in a MIAC game in St. Paul.
 
With three games left in the regular season, Saint Benedict is now 14-8 overall and sixth in the league with a 9-6 mark. The Blazers are two games ahead of Augsburg and St. Olaf, which are tied for seventh with 7-8 records. CSB is one game behind Bethel, which is in fifth at 10-5.
 
The Wildcats led by 10, 46-36, heading into the fourth quarter, but Alison Newton hit a 3-pointer to start the quarter and cut the gap to seven, 46-39. St. Kate's (11-11, 5-10) scored, but Grace Wolhowe hit a layup to spark a 14-6 CSB run that ended with the gap cut to one, 54-53, with 2:47 left.
 
One was as close as CSB would get, however. After Guetter scored to make it a one-point game, the Wildcats hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three. After each team hit a single free throw, Newton hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game with 39 seconds left, but that's the last either team would score.
 
St. Kate's got the ball back but turned it over, and the Blazers turned the ball over in the final four seconds and couldn't get a shot off.
 
The Wildcats started the game on a 5-0 run, but the Blazers came back and took their only lead of the game, 11-9, on a three by Annie Dittberner midway through the first half. The game was tied at 13 after one quarter, and after two ties to start the second quarter, St. Kate's pushed its lead to as many as six in the second. Macy Kelly scored in the final 25 seconds of the half to make it a three-point game, 27-24, in favor of St. Kate's heading into halftime.
 
Fokken made it a one-point game to start the third, but St. Kate's outscored CSB 19-12 in the third quarter and took a 46-36 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.
 
Fokken finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead CSB, which shot 44 percent from the field. Chelsey Guetter added 10 points and Newton added nine. The Blazers went 5-for-9 from the line and had 38 rebounds and 23 turnovers.
 
LaShay Holt led all scorers with 19 points for the Wildcats and she also had seven rebounds. Shauna Horsch and Audra Clark each had l1 points for the Wildcats, who shot 39 percent from the field and went 12-for-14 from the line. St. Kate's had 29 rebounds and 16 turnovers.
 
CSB is on the road one more time in the regular season Saturday, Feb. 13 when it travels to Moorhead, Minn., to take on Concordia. That game starts at 3 p.m.