NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team used strong starts to the third and fourth quarters to earn a split of the regular-season series with crosstown-rival Carleton College with a 74-66 road win on Monday night at West Gym.

St. Olaf (9-10, 6-10 MIAC) scored 11 of the first 14 points in the third quarter and 12 of the first 16 of the fourth on its way to snapping a four-game losing streak to Carleton (6-12, 5-10 MIAC). The Oles shot 49.1 percent (26-for-53) from the field and had 19 assists on their 26 made shots in the win.

Senior Rachel Kelly scored a game-high 25 points – two shy of her season-high total – on 10-for-14 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and a steal for St. Olaf. The 25-point night saw the senior rise one spot to seventh on the program's all-time scoring list with 951 career points.

Sophomore Paige Yagodinski registered 15 points – two shy of her career-high total – and senior Cassie Fix was also in double figures with 13 points in the win. Senior Grace Hegland approached a triple-double with nine points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while classmate Sophie Olmen added eight points while making a pair of three pointers.

Carleton had four scorers in double figures, led by 17 points from Aiana Whitfield, who hit four three-pointers for the hosts. Jasmine Choi scored 16 points but was just 6-for-19 from the field, while Emma Henry and Bella Thomas had 10 points apiece.

After the Knights scored the game's first two points, Kelly scored the next six as part of an 11-0 run for the Oles to give St. Olaf an 11-2 lead four minutes in. Carleton chipped away at the deficit over the rest of the quarter and got a three-pointer from Whitfield in the closing seconds to trail by just two, 17-15, after one.

Whitfield drained a pair of three-pointers in the first 1:07 of the second quarter to give the Knights the lead. Carleton opened the quarter on an extended 13-5 run to take its largest lead of the game at 28-22, but St. Olaf countered with a 9-0 run to take the lead back at 31-28 with 4:10 left in the second. Two free throws by Choi a minute later were the only points over the remainder of the quarter, as the Oles took a 31-30 halftime lead.

Kelly scored six points during St. Olaf's 11-3 start to the third quarter that pushed the Oles' lead to 42-33 four minutes in. Carleton closed to within four after five quick points from Whitfield and went into the fourth quarter down just two, 48-46, after Whitfield beat the buzzer with a layup.

After a Henry layup to start the fourth quarter tied the game, Olmen scored five-straight points to give the Oles the lead once again and Fix added a three-pointer to help extend St. Olaf's lead to 60-50 with 5:35 to go. The Oles lead by at least seven the rest of the way thanks, in part, to hitting six-straight free throws in the final 1:16.

St. Olaf plays its next four games at home, beginning with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Saint Mary's University (Minn.) on Wednesday, Feb. 1.