Lady Cats lose third place game to Ste. Genevieve

The Lady Cats Basketball team lost in the third place game of the Central Christmas Tournament, Wednesday, December 31.

The fourth-seeded Cats fell 52-34 to the No. 2 seed Ste. Genevieve Hunters.

The game started out slowly. The score was 6-6 with 2:30 left in the first quarter. The Hunters hit a 3-pointer and several free throws to end the quarter with a 14-8 lead. The Ste. Genevieve lead remained six points, until Brianna Denman hit a basket and Allison McDowell nailed a three-pointer to pull the Cats within one midway through the second quarter. It would be the closest the Lady Cats would get as the Hunters pushed the lead to nine points before Molly Ward and Kylie Oertel scored back to back to make it 27-22 at the half.

The Hunters scored the first six points in the third quarter, as they increased their lead to 33-22 before Cats Coach Nickey Reutzel got a timeout. McDowell and Megan Moser scored right after the timeout, but the Cats ended the period trailing 42-30.

Oertel led the Cats with 13 points, McDowell had nine, Ward had eight, Moser and Denman had two, each. Oertel also finished with eight rebounds and four steals.

The Lady Cats will host       (Cape Girardeau) Notre Dame, Thursday.