ST. PETER, Minn. – Junior
Rachel Kelly scored a game-high 22 points for the St. Olaf College women's basketball team, but Gustavus Adolphus College had five scorers in double figures on its way to an 81-70 win over the Oles on Tuesday evening at Gus Young Court.
Gustavus (3-1, 2-0 MIAC) picked up its second-straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory to start conference play by shooting 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the field and committing just seven turnovers in the win. St. Olaf (1-2, 0-2 MIAC) shot at a 49.1-percent clip (26-for-53) in the game but committed eight more turnovers than the Gusties and was just 10-for-20 at the free-throw line.
Kelly shot 9-for-14 from the field, including 2-for-4 from behind the arc, on her way to a season-high 22 points, while also collecting five rebounds, two steals, one block, and one assist. Senior
K'Lynn Lewis added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists on a 5-for-9 shooting night from the field that included a 3-for-5 performance from behind the arc. Junior
Sophie Olmen joined Kelly and Lewis in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds.
Syd Hauger scored a team-high 14 points off the bench for Gustavus, which got 13 points from Maddy Rice and 12 points apiece from Anna Sanders and Emma Kniefel. Rachel Kawiecki just missed out on a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Kelly made three-straight shots in the early stages for St. Olaf to help the Oles to a 6-4 lead over the first three-plus minutes. Eight early points from Kelly had St. Olaf within one, 11-10, with 3:11 to go in the opening quarter before the Gusties closed the quarter on a 14-5 run to take a 25-15 lead into the second.
A three-pointer by Kelly 1:07 into the second quarter got the Gustavus lead back down to single digits, but the Gusties led by as many as 15 on two occasions in the final two minutes of the quarter and took a 41-28 at halftime. Ten different Gusties scored in the opening half.
Gustavus led by double digits for the whole second half until first year
Paige Yagodinski hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining in the game to make it a 79-70 game. After being held to three points in the first half, Lewis came alive in the second half, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc on her way to scoring 12 points over the final 20 minutes.
St. Olaf returns home to host Macalester on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m.
