MOORHEAD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team led by as many as 18 points in the first half before Concordia-Moorhead rallied over the final two quarters for a 67-61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) victory on Thursday at Memorial Auditorium.
St. Olaf (3-7, 2-5 MIAC) built a 36-18 lead late in the first half and held a 36-24 lead at the break, but could not hold on in the second half. Mary Sem had 15 of her game-high 19 points after halftime for Concordia (2-7, 2-7 MIAC), which made three-straight three-pointers in the final 3:12 to take the lead.
Sophomore
Cayden Botten was 7-for-10 from the field on the way to a career-high 17 points and six rebounds for the Oles, while first year
Sarah Tangen and senior
K'Lynn Lewis had 15 points apiece. Tangen's 15 points marked the first double-figure scoring game of her collegiate career and she also pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.
In the early stages, St. Olaf made five of its first six shots from the field to take a 12-6 lead a little over three minutes into the game. Botten scored 10 of her 17 points in the opening quarter, shooting 4-for-5 from the field, including making both of her tries from behind the arc, to help the Oles to a 19-12 lead after one quarter. St. Olaf limited Concordia to 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) shooting in the opening quarter.
The Oles started the second quarter on a 12-2 run to stretch its lead to 31-14 on a three-pointer by first year
Paige Yagodinski with 5:57 remaining in the half. Sem snapped a scoreless stretch of over three minutes for Concordia with a layup on the next possession to help the Cobbers whittle the 18-point deficit to 12, 36-24, at the half. St. Olaf shot an even 50.0 percent (14-for-28) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, compared to 27.8 percent (10-for-36) for Concordia.
A three-pointer by Lewis midway through the period was the lone made field goal for the Oles in the third quarter, as the Cobbers got within five points headed to the fourth. After the Lewis' three-pointer, Concordia scored the next seven points to make it a 43-30 game with 2:33 to go in the third. St. Olaf was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the quarter to help maintain the lead.
Sem scored the first nine points of the fourth for the Cobbers to help the hosts tie the game at 51-51 three minutes into the final period. The Oles responded with a three-pointer by Yagodinski to go back ahead, but Autumn Thompson hit back-to-back three-pointers and Jordyn Kahler added one of her own on consecutive possessions to give Concordia a 63-57 lead with 1:55 left. Two free throws by Lewis and a layup by Botten got St. Olaf within two, 63-61, with 35 seconds remaining before Emily Beseman knocked down four free throws over the final 22 seconds to seal the win for Concordia.
The Oles head to Bethel on Saturday, Jan. 8 for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
