Breese Mater Dei Wins Thriller Against Edwardsville Girls Basketball Squad 44-43

The Tigers' Gieseking scored 22 points, but Mater Dei's last-second basket secured a narrow win at Lucco-Jackson Gym.

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Nov 27, 2025 3:00 PM Dec 2, 2025 4:36 PM

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EDWARDSVILLE - Kennedy Gieseking had a big game for Edwardsville with 22 points, but Marlee Loepker scored on a second-chance basket with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to give Breese Mater Dei Catholic a 44-43 win over the Tigers in Edwardsville's home opener Wednesday evening, Nov. 26, 2025, at Lucco-Jackson Gym.

The game was the home debut for new Edwardsville coach Kaylie Gudka. She said she was proud of her young team for battling throughout the game, and also gave credit to Mater Dei for pulling out the win.

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"A lot of little mental mistakes really turned into big issues for us," Gudka said. "I'm going to give it to them, though. They have a great team, really well-coached, and they came out ready to go from the jump. So, I'm really impressed with their girls, and wishing them nothing but the best this season."

The Tigers' previous game was a 56-53 win over Dunlap in the Southern Illinois Shootout in O'Fallon last Saturday on a buzzer-beater by Gieseking, and Edwardsville almost did it for a second time on Wednesday.

"These girls definitely do rise to the occasion," Gudka said. "It was one of those that we had the missed switch, they got an offensive board, and were able to get a bucket, but night and night again, these girls definitely do rise to the occasion. As I said, we had some mental mistakes that turned into big things for us. But the good thing is it's happening now, not two months from now," she said."

The players are continuing to work hard in practice, and the Thanksgiving break will be most welcome, indeed.

"Oh, yes," Gudka said. "We make a full go every single day, very little breaks right now, because we've gone every other day with a game. So, now, we're going to take the Thanksgiving break here, for a day, and be ready to go to get back on the floor."

There's still plenty of basketball to be played, as the season is underway, and Gudka is very confident about the Tigers continuing to improve.

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"Absolutely," Gudka said. "Like these girls, night and night again, they're bought into me. The love is there, the care is there, and I'm ready to go to battle with them every single night. Honestly, I'm very proud of these girls, and I know it wasn't the win that we wanted. It stinks with the marker going the other way, but at the same time, I couldn't be prouder, and couldn't be more thankful going into Thanksgiving to be coaching a team like this."

An early basket by Kaylee Hauschild and a three-point play by Journey Anderson gave Edwardsville a quick 5-0 lead at the start of the game, with Mater Dei battling back to go up for the first time at 7-5 on a three by Addison Ringwald. The game went back and forth for the remainder of the period before Reese Kreke hit a three to give Mater Dei a 12-0 lead at the end of the first period.

The second quarter saw many lead changes throughout, with neither team being able to go in front by more than three throughout, both teams exchanging the lead at various times through the quarter. The Tigers went ahead at halftime 24-23 on a basket from Anderson, a talented freshman who's earned a starting spot for the Tigers. Anderson's basket from outside gave Edwardsville the lead at the interval.

In the third quarter, the see-saw game continued, as neither team took more than a three-point lead in the quarter, except an Edwardsville run late, with the Tigers going up 35-29 and looking to be in control. The Knights rallied back on a basket from Amelia Beer and a three from Loepker to cut the Edwardsville lead to 35-34 at three-quarter time.

In the fourth, Beer put Mater Dei up 36-35 on a basket from close range, with a free throw by Hauschild tying the game at 36-36. The Tigers took the lead back 40-39, then Gieseking nailed a big three to give Edwardsville a 43-39 lead. Back came the Knights, as Beer hit a three from up top to cut the lead to 43-42, with 1:10 left, then got the ball back on a turnover with 20.2 seconds to go. The Knights called a time out with 6.3 seconds to set up a play, and Loepker got a miss and put it back in with 1.5 seconds left to give the Knights a 44-43 lead. A long pass by the Tigers after a time out was intercepted, and Mater Dei ran out the clock to preserve their win.

Gieseking led all the scorers with 22 points, while Anderson had 11 points, and both Hauschild and Gabby Cook scored five points each. Beer scored 13 points for the Knights, while Loepker had 11 points, Myah Pollmsn had eight points, Kreke hit for five points, Ringwald scored three points, and Mariah Benhoff had two points.

Mater Dei is now 3-1, while Edwardsville goes to 2-2, with the Tigers next playing at home against Granite City Monday night, then opens the Southwestern Conference season Dec. 3 at East St. Louis, both games starting at 7:30 p.m., then the Tigers host Civic Memorial Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.