ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team fell in a big hole after the first quarter in an 87-47 loss to nationally-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener on Tuesday night at Gus Young Court.

Gustavus (2-0, 1-0 MIAC) never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 30-6 lead after the first quarter on its way to the 40-point victory over St. Olaf (1-3, 0-1 MIAC). After scoring 25 points in the first three quarters, the Oles put 22 points on the board in the fourth while playing the nationally-ranked Gusties even over the final 10 minutes. Gustavus was ranked No. 15 by D3hoops.com and No. 19 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Junior Paige Yagodinski led the way for the Oles with a season-high 12 points on 4-for-10 shooting to go with four rebounds, one block, and one steal, while classmate Sophia Kormann had 10 points and five rebounds. St. Olaf was just 1-for-18 (5.6 percent) from three-point range in the game, compared to 11-for-25 (44.0 percent) for Gustavus.

Morgan Kelly led three Gusties in double figures with a game-high 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, including going 3-for-3 from behind the arc, in 16 minutes off the bench. Rachel Kawiecki and Syd Hauger were also in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the hosts, who shot 50.8 percent (32-for-63) on the night.

Gustavus was 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from the field in the opening quarter and forced seven turnovers by St. Olaf to open up a 30-6 lead early on. Junior Ziling Zhen had four of the Oles' six points in the quarter. The Gusties ballooned their lead to 46-15 at halftime and 65-25 after three quarters. Kormann had nine of her 10 points and was 4-for-4 from the field in the fourth quarter for St. Olaf, which shot 9-for-18 (50.0 percent) from the field in the quarter.

After break, the Oles begin a three-game home stand by hosting Macalester College on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.