ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College women's basketball team opened the 2025-26 season under new head coach AD Donovan with a 68-49 loss to St. Catherine University Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The Scots and Wildcats both were 12-13 a year ago.

In the first quarter, St. Catherine (2-0) used a 9-1 run to take an 18-12 lead, a margin they would take into the second quarter with a 20-14 advantage. Sophomore guard Emma Karlin (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) and first year guard Megan Matthews (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) each scored five points in the quarter for Macalester. Early in the second quarter, Matthews drained a three and added a basket to cut the deficit to one, 20-19. The Wildcats responded with a 12-3 run that made the score 32-22 with 2:13 left in the half. The lead grew to as many as 14 points before sophomore forward Cady Davis (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt) made a layup to make the halftime score 39-27 Wildcats. St. Catherine shot 56.3 percent from the field compared to 28.6 percent for the Scots.

Nine straight points by St. Kate's to open the second half pushed the lead to 21 points four minutes into the third quarter. Junior guard Kendall Bernbaum (Dallas, Texas/Shelton School) ended the run with a three-pointer and first year guard Faith Accardo (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian) also made a three to bring the lead down to 17, 50-33. After the Wildcats pushed the lead back up to 20, three free throws by junior guard Mary Daley (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan) and another from Accardo made the score 58-42 heading into the final quarter.

Both teams struggled to score early in the fourth quarter, with Davis converting a pair of free throws to reduce the lead to 14, 58-44. After Hattie Fox made a layup, sophomore Samantha Smith (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) hit a three to make it a 13-point game, 60-47 with under five minutes left. But that's as close as the Scots would get, as St. Kate's closed out the win with an 8-2 run.

Matthews scored a team-best 10 points and added four rebounds in her first collegiate game. Karlin tallied career-highs of eight points and a team-leading eight rebounds, with Smith and Accardo scoring seven points apiece. Davis and Daley contributed five points and seven rebounds each. Daley also had four assists, while Smith swiped two steals. Fox scored a game-high 22 points and Jordyn Peed had 20 points for the Wildcats.

Macalester heads to Morris, Minn. to take on the University of Minnesota Morris on Monday, Nov. 10. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.