NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team hung with Bethel University for three quarters before the Royals pulled away in the fourth for a 66-51 victory on Monday evening at Skoglund Center.

St. Olaf (7-17, 6-15 MIAC) trailed by just five points entering the fourth quarter before Bethel (17-7, 16-5 MIAC) outscored the Oles by an 18-8 margin over the final 10 minutes. Junior Sophie Olmen had a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds for her first-career double-double off the bench for St. Olaf to help the Oles to a 32-15 advantage in bench points in the game.

Olmen was 6-for-9 from the field, including going 3-for-5 from three-point range, and made both of her free throws while adding a team-high four assists. First year Paige Yagodinski hit three three-pointers to add 11 points off the bench, but the Oles shot just 29.6 percent (16-for-54) from the field in the loss.

Hayden Glander, Makenna Pearson, and Anna Garfield combined to score 47 of Bethel's 66 points as all three were in double figures. Glander matched Olmen with 17 points, Pearson had 16 to go with five rebounds, and Garfield recorded 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four blocked shots. The Royals shot just 33.8 percent (24-for-71) from the field but scored 24 points off of 23 St. Olaf turnovers.

Glander scored seven-straight points to help Bethel to an early 11-4 lead three-plus minutes in and combined with Pearson to score 14 of the Royals' 16 points in the opening quarter. Yagodinski hit a pair of three-pointers and Olmen added another as the Oles took a 15-14 lead after an 8-0 run and St. Olaf took a 17-16 lead into the second quarter after a late jumper by senior K'Lynn Lewis.

The Royals held the Oles scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the second quarter while scoring the first 11 points to build their largest lead of the half at 27-17. St. Olaf responded with a 6-0 run to get back within four and went into halftime down just two, 30-28, after a late bucket by Olmen.

Early in the third quarter, the Oles got even at 34-34 on a pair of free throws by senior Camryn Scott, but the Royals scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a seven-point lead with 3:11 left in the quarter. Olmen ended the Bethel run with a three-pointer as St. Olaf climbed within one late on before the Royals scored the final five points of the quarter to lead 48-43 after three.

A layup by Courtney Nuest three minutes into the fourth quarter extended Bethel's lead back to double figures at 54-44 as part of a 13-3 start to the quarter for the visitors. The Royals led by double figures for the final six minutes of the game.

St. Olaf closes out the regular season by hosting St. Scholastica for Senior Night on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.