NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team dropped its final home game of the season to Saint Mary's University by a 66-49 margin on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.

Saint Mary's (12-11, 10-7 MIAC) turned a six-point halftime advantage into a 17-point lead going into the fourth after outscoring St. Olaf (7-17, 1-16 MIAC) by an 18-7 margin in the third quarter. The victory and other results across the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) clinched a playoff spot for the Cardinals.

In their final game at Bob Gelle Court, seniors Sophia Kormann and Sarah Tangen were two of St. Olaf's three double-digit scorers in the loss. Kormann led the Oles with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting to go with six rebounds, while Tangen was 3-for-4 from three-point range to add 11 points and six boards. Sophomore Chloee Smith contributed 10 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while classmate Joy Brandenstein had eight points. St. Olaf got 32 of its 49 points in the paint and 46 of its 49 points from its starting five.

Brianna Nusbaum scored a game-high 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting and added six rebounds, three assists, and three steals for Saint Mary's. Julia Koch was also in double figures with 13 points, while the Cardinals' other three starters all had at least eight points. Saint Mary's starters combined for 59 of the team's 66 points.

Saint Mary's shot 69.2 percent (9-for-13) from the field in the opening quarter to get out to a nine-point lead thanks, in part, to nine early points from Nusbaum. St. Olaf led 7-6 early before the visitors went on an 11-0 run to take control. The Cardinals led by as many as 12 in the final minute of the quarter.

St. Olaf whittled its deficit to 35-29 at halftime after outscoring the Cardinals by a 17-14 margin in the second quarter. Tangen sank a pair of three-pointers in the quarter before Kormann scored the final four points of the half to trim the Cardinals' lead to six at the half.

Kali Olson scored all nine of her points in the game in the third quarter to outscore St. Olaf on her own and help the Cardinals led by as many as 20 in the quarter. Saint Mary's went on an 11-0 run over the span of over four minutes to balloon its lead to 51-31 inside the final three minutes of the quarter.

St. Olaf got its deficit down to 10 at 59-49 with 3:08 remaining on a jumper by Smith, but Saint Mary's held the Oles scoreless the rest of the way to see out the win. The Oles held the Cardinals to four made field goals in the fourth quarter and shot 46.2 percent (6-for-13) on the offensive end over the final 10 minutes.

St. Olaf will conclude its season on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. at Hamline University.