NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 66-52 win over Crown College in its season opener on Friday night at Skoglund Center.
St. Olaf (1-0) held a 45-40 lead after three quarters before outscoring Crown (0-1) by a 21-12 margin in the fourth to come away with the 14-point win. The Oles have won all nine of their all-time meetings with the Polars since the programs first met in 2015.
In her collegiate debut, first year
Sami Sarner led St. Olaf with 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting, including making two three-pointers, to go with five rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Senior
Joy Brandenstein was 3-for-4 from three-point range while adding 11 points, three rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Six other Oles scored either six or eight points in the win.
St. Olaf enjoyed a 22-5 advantage in bench scoring and held the Polars to 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) shooting from three-point range on the night. The Oles outrebounded the visitors by a 47-34 margin thanks, in part, to 13 rebounds from junior
Elise Hahn and nine from sophomore
Erin Schauer.
A layup by first year
Graycie Smith gave St. Olaf a 16-10 lead in the final minute of the opening quarter, but Crown closed the quarter with five points from Sydney Cotton to make it a 16-15 game after 10 minutes. The Oles took their largest lead of the first half at 25-15 on a three-pointer by first year
Nora Jensen that capped a 9-0 start to the second quarter, but the Polars answered with a 9-0 run of their own, as St. Olaf took a 27-26 lead into halftime.
Brandenstein was 3-for-3 from behind the arc to score half of the Oles' 18 points in the third quarter. St. Olaf took a 36-28 lead on a three-point play by Sarner 3:27 into the third before Brandenstein's third three-pointer of the quarter gave the Oles an 11-point lead with 1:51 left. Crown closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to get within five heading to the fourth.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Koltz and Sarner increased St. Olaf's lead to 51-40 just 50 seconds into the fourth, and the Oles led by at least nine the rest of the way. St. Olaf led by as many as 14 and limited the Polars to 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) shooting over the final 10 minutes.
The Oles will be back in action at home against the University of Northwestern at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
