ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team was plagued by 31 turnovers in a 91-44 loss to Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play on Wednesday evening at Gus Young Court.
St. Olaf (7-8, 4-8 MIAC) shot 47.1 percent (16-for-34) from the field in the game, but Gustavus (13-2, 10-2 MIAC) turned the 31 turnovers into a 39-6 advantage in points off turnovers to cruise to the win. The Gusties were receiving votes in this week's D3hoops.com Women's Top 25 and sat just one spot outside the top 25.
Senior
Rachel Kelly was the lone Ole in double figures in the game, scoring 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting, while classmate
Grace Hegland added nine points on 3-for-5 from the field. Kelly's 12-point night saw her rise to No. 15 on St. Olaf's all-time scoring list with 876 career points, one behind former teammate
K'Lynn Lewis '22 and two behind Erin Collins '99 and Holly Grimsrud '07.
Riley Queensland led four Gusties in double figures with 18 points in 16 minutes off the bench, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range for the hosts. Gustavus committed just seven turnovers in the game and assisted on 23 of its 34 made field goals. The Gusties also knocked down 11-of-24 three-pointers to shoot 45.8 percent from three-point range.
St. Olaf opened the scoring on a three-pointer by Hegland before Gustavus scored the next nine points to grab a lead it would hold onto the rest of the way. A three-point play by sophomore
Sophia Kormann got the Oles within three at 11-8 midway through the quarter before the Gusties extended their lead to 26-16 heading into the second. St. Olaf was 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) from the field in the quarter and knocked down all three of its three-pointers early on.
Gustavus stretched its lead to 48-28 at halftime after shooting 9-for-15 (60.0 percent) in the second quarter, led by 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from Queensland. The Gusties led by at least 17 for the entire second half and led by as many as the final margin of 47 after hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer.
St. Olaf plays the second half of a home basketball doubleheader against Hamline University on Saturday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. at Skoglund Center.
