WINONA, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team saw a 19-point lead after three quarters evaporate in a 62-60 loss to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) foe Saint Mary's University (Minn.) on Wednesday night at Saint Mary's Gym.

St. Olaf (3-3, 0-3 MIAC) outscored Saint Mary's (1-2, 1-2 MIAC) by a 25-12 margin in the third quarter to build a 57-38 lead, but the Cardinals flipped the script in the fourth quarter, scoring 24 of the game's final 27 points to claim the come-from-behind win. Katelyn Cruze had the game-winning put-back layup with 2.7 seconds remaining for the Cardinals.

Senior Grace Hegland was 7-for-8 from the field on her way to a team-high 17 points for St. Olaf and grabbed five rebounds in the loss. Fellow senior Rachel Kelly moved into the top 25 in program history in scoring with a 12-point evening despite being limited to 24 minutes due to foul trouble, while junior Cayden Botten added a season-high 10 points off the bench on 4-for-6 shooting, including going 2-for-3 from three-point range.

The Oles shot 55.8 percent (24-for-43) from the field over the first three quarters before being held to 1-for-12 shooting (8.3 percent) over the final 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the Cardinals shot 60.0 percent (9-for-15) in the fourth quarter after shooting just 26.7 percent (12-for-45) over the first three quarters. St. Olaf led for 36:18 out of the 40-minute game, while Saint Mary's led for just 36 seconds.

In the opening quarter, the Oles shot 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the field to take a 19-14 lead after the first 10 minutes. St. Olaf built a 12-5 lead midway through the quarter on consecutive baskets by Hegland, senior Cassie Fix, and Kelly and led by double figures at 17-7 after a Botten three-pointer with 2:30 to go in the quarter. The Cardinals scored the next six points before Botten closed the quarter with a jumper.

St. Olaf held the lead until Saint Mary's grabbed its first lead of the game at 26-25 with 2:28 remaining in the second quarter, but the Oles quickly reclaimed the lead on the next possession on a layup by Botten. The Oles took a 32-26 lead into the locker room after sophomore Paige Yagodinski hit a three-pointer and classmate Sarah Tangen followed with a jumper in the final minute of the half.

In the third quarter, St. Olaf broke open a four-point game with a 12-1 run over a three-minute stretch that put the visitors on top by 15 at 46-31 with 3:42 remaining following back-to-back three-pointers by Hegland and Yagodinski. A Botten three-pointer gave the Oles their largest lead of the night at 55-35 with 1:01 remaining in the quarter.

Despite being held scoreless for the first 8:41 of the fourth quarter, St. Olaf held a 58-56 lead with 1:19 remaining on a free throw by Fix. After the Cardinals tied the game on the next possession, Hegland broke the 58-58 tie with a layup with 27 seconds to go to put the Oles back on top. Saint Mary's knocked down a pair of free throws seven seconds later to tie the game again before an offensive foul gave the ball back to the hosts.

After a missed jumper, Cruze snagged an offensive rebound and scored on a put-back for the game-winning basket. St. Olaf got a look out of a timeout with 2.7 seconds remaining, but Hegland's contested layup would not fall.

The Oles complete a run of three-straight road games with a visit to Hamline University for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Dec. 3.