Box Score Whenever a player scores more than his or her average points per game, it is considered a good effort, right? Well, what do you call it when the player does so in the first quarter? 

Hamline junior forward Alaina Quaranta did just that, besting her seasonal average by four points with 16 in the first quarter of Saturday's 68-61 loss at St. Catherine. Quaranta hit seven of her field goal attempts from the field as the Pipers broke fast from the gate with a 25-24 first quarter lead. HU kept up the advantage at halftime (42-39) and after three stanzas (53-49) before the Wildcats rallied for the decision to drop Hamline to 4-19 overall, 3-13 in the MIAC. 

In addition to Quaranta, who scored 20 points for the fourth time this season, Reilly Geistfeld added 15 with a team high seven rebounds and a career best six steals. (Morgen Coleman also had seven rebounds.) 

The first half went back and forth with neither team able to lead by more than four points. In the third quarter, HU pushed the lead with a 48-41 bulge before the Wildcats cut it to four by the end of the session. Hamline then opened up its biggest lead of the game at eight with a 57-49 count in the first minute of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats, however, came back to tie the game at 59 with 2:25 and then score nine of the game's final 11 points to earn the decision. 

In addition to the above numbers, Hamline freshman Molly Wampler went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The freshman continues to lead the MIAC and is second among all D-III shooters from the line with a .934 percentage (69-74).

Hamline wraps up the season next week with games against Concordia on Wednesday, February 14 at Hutton Arena (7:45 p.m.) and at St. Mary's on Saturday, February 17 (3:00 p.m.).