ST. PAUL, Minn. – The sixth-seeded St. Olaf College women's basketball team fell behind early and could never recover in a 76-64 loss to third-seeded Hamline University in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs on Tuesday night at Hutton Arena.
Hamline (18-8) hit three three-pointers to get out to an early 9-1 lead and never trailed on its way to earning its spot in the semifinals. After trailing by as many as 16, St. Olaf (14-12) cut its deficit to five in the final minute of the third quarter but was unable to get any closer, as the Pipers pulled away early in the fourth quarter.
With the victory, Hamline advances to take on second-seeded Concordia-Moorhead in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 24. The other semifinals pits the fourth-seeded College of Saint Benedict at top-seeded Gustavus Adolphus College after the Bennies ousted fifth-seeded Bethel University by a 73-55 margin in Tuesday night's other quarterfinal.
St. Olaf's season ends with its most victories (14) and most MIAC wins (11) since 2013-14. The Oles were appearing in the MIAC Playoffs for the first time since 2014 under the six-team format and just the fifth time ever.
Sophomore
Paige Yagodinski led three Oles in double figures with 15 points and knocked down three three-pointers in the loss. Senior
Rachel Kelly recorded her ninth double-double of the season – her fifth in the last six games – with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots to close out her standout career. Fellow senior
Sophie Olmen was also in double figures with 11 points, while classmates
Grace Hegland and
Cassie Fix had nine points apiece.
Hamline also had three scorers in double figures, led by 15 points from Lydia Lecher on an efficient 6-for-8 shooting night that included going 3-for-5 from three-point range. Chan'el Anderson-Manning had 13 points, four rebounds, six assists, and four steals while doing most of her damage at the free-throw line, where she was 8-for-9. Michaela Stamer came off the bench to go 3-for-5 from behind the arc to score 11 points, as Hamline was 13-for-27 (48.1 percent) from long range as a team.
The game was played without functioning shot clocks, as Fix knocked down a free throw before the game started after a technical foul was assessed due to the malfunction. The Pipers sank three-straight three-pointers to score the next nine points and held St. Olaf scoreless for the first 4:16 of game time after the technical foul.
Hamline led by as many as 10 in the opening quarter and took its largest lead of the first half at 35-19 with 4:08 left in the second quarter on a transition three-pointer by Larisa O'Neil. The hosts took a 40-28 lead into the locker room after going 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes, compared to 1-for-9 (11.1 percent) for St. Olaf.
In the third, Hamline maintained a double-figure lead until a layup by Kelly with 1:35 left sparked an 8-0 run that culminated in a three-pointer by Yagodinski to make it a 57-52 game with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Pipers responded, however, with a three-point play by Anderson-Manning and a buzzer-beating jumper by Lecher to take a 62-52 lead into the fourth.
Hamline continued its run early in the fourth, extending the run to 13-0 after beginning the quarter on an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 70-52 with 6:37 left. Four-straight points from Yagodinski – who had all 15 of her points in the second half – helped St. Olaf get within eight with 2:09 remaining, but that was as close as the Oles would get.
