ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team led by eight after three quarters before Macalester College rallied with a 29-point fourth quarter to claim a 71-63 non-conference victory on Tuesday evening at the Leonard Center.
St. Olaf (2-7) shot an even 50.0 percent over the first three quarters to take a 50-42 lead into the fourth, but Macalester (5-5) was 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) from the field and from the free-throw line to claim the win in a game that the Oles led for 30:42. The teams added the non-conference contest to make up for one of the two games they lost after Carleton College canceled its season due to a lack of healthy players.
Junior
Ziling Zhen was 8-for-10 from the field on her way to a career- and game-high 19 points to lead three Oles in double figures in scoring. Junior
Paige Yagodinski added 14 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late, while first year
Chloee Smith went 5-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-2 from three-point range, to provide 15 points off the bench.
Acacia Edmond led the Scots with 17 points in 20 minutes off the bench, going 5-for-8 from the field, 2-for-2 from behind the arc, and 5-for-9 from the charity stripe. Peyton Starks scored 11 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter for the hosts, as Edmond and Starks had 20 of Macalester's 29 points in the final 10 minutes. Katherine Norquist neared a double-double with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, while Ellie Corbett contributed 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
Zhen scored 10 of St. Olaf's 12 first-quarter points as the teams were tied at 12-12 after 10 minutes. The junior hit 4-of-5 shots from the field in the quarter while the rest of the team was just 1-for-7. In the second quarter, the Oles hit three three-pointers in the final 3:28 to turn a 22-17 lead into a 33-21 advantage at the break. The 12-point cushion was St. Olaf's largest of the game and came after a half that saw the Oles hold a 14-0 advantage in points in the paint.
Back-to-back baskets by Zhen and Yagodinski midway through the third quarter gave St. Olaf its largest lead of the game at 43-27 with 5:10 to go, but Corbett scored five- points in the final 32 seconds to help Macalester get to the fourth quarter down just 50-42. Starks and Edmond took over from there, combining for 11 consecutive points for the Scots to bring the hosts within two at 57-55 with 4:31 to go in the fourth.
Starks gave Macalester the lead for good with a three-pointer with 3:44 remaining as part of an 11-0 run that included seven points from Starks. Smith and junior
Sophia Kormann ended the run with back-to-back layups to make it a 65-61 game with 51 seconds to go, but the Scots made all six of their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
St. Olaf is off until beginning 2024 with a trip to the College of Saint Benedict for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
