ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team could not sustain a strong start in a 57-51 road loss to Macalester College on Wednesday evening at Leonard Center.

St. Olaf (4-6, 1-6 MIAC) knocked down three three-pointers in the opening quarter and led 17-10 after 10 minutes before Macalester (3-7, 2-5 MIAC) limited the Oles to five second-quarter points to build a 26-22 halftime lead. Peyton Starks scored 17 of her game-high 25 points in the second half to lead the Scots to the six-point win.

Senior Cassie Fix was 3-for-6 from behind the arc on her way to a season-high 13 points to lead the way for St. Olaf, which shot just 29.7 percent (19-for-64) from the field on the night. Sophomore Paige Yagodinski was also in double figures with 11 points, while senior Rachel Kelly narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Kelly's nine-point night saw her move into the top 20 in program history with 803 points in her career. She also had a pair of blocked shots to rise to third in program history with 62 over her four-year career.

St. Olaf started the game by scoring the first seven points and led for 8:25 of the first quarter before taking a 17-10 lead into the second. Fix, Yagodinski, and Kelly each connected on a three-pointer in the quarter and the Oles limited the Scots to 23.5 percent (4-for-17) shooting in the early stages.

In the second quarter, Macalester heated up to 50.0 percent (7-for-14) from the field, while St. Olaf was just 2-for-21 (9.5 percent) from the floor in the quarter. The Oles hit their first two shots of the quarter – a layup by Yagodinski and a three-pointer by junior Cayden Botten – before going scoreless over the final 8:56 of the quarter but trailed by just four, 26-22, at the half.

After Macalester pushed its lead to 10 at 35-25 midway through the third quarter, St. Olaf cut it to five, 40-35, with 1:17 to go on a jumper by senior Sophie Olmen. Fix also had a three-pointer in a 7-1 run late in the quarter, but the Scots took a 42-35 lead into the fourth.

A three-pointer by senior Grace Hegland with 5:40 remaining brought the Oles within four at 49-45, but Sparks answered with a three-pointer to help the hosts hold on for the win. Sparks scored 10 of Macalester's 15 points in the fourth quarter, including hitting both of her three-point attempts.

The Oles travel to Arden Hills to take on Bethel University on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 3 p.m.