Northfield, Minn. -- Megan Vig (Sr./Northfield, Minn.) scored 15 points but the Carleton College women's basketball team made only 8-of-21 from the line and St. Olaf College canned 10-of-20 from three-point range in upsetting the Knights, 63-60. The win gave the Oles possession of the Presidents Cup.
Christina Sampson paced St. Olaf (8-15, 5-13 MIAC) with 24 points, canning six 3-pointers, while Paige Bromen came off the bench to tally career highs with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Knights (14-9, 12-6 MIAC) suffered only their second loss in the MIAC's second half and lost for the first time in eight game at West Gym to their Northfield rivals, dating back to the 1999-2000 season. It marked St. Olaf's second win over Carleton in the last 12 meetings, but the second straight year it's upset the Knights.
The Knights trailed by three at the break and the Oles extended the margin to 10 out of the locker room as Natalie Rigelman scored twice inside and Christina Schwichtenberg nailed a three. The Knights still trailed by 10, 52-42, with 11 minutes, 19 seconds left before embarking on an 18-7 spurt to take a 60-59 lead with two minutes left on a Kari Christianson (Sr./Twin Valley, Minn./Norman Co. East) baseline jumper.
The Knights had only one field-goal attempt in the final two minutes, though, as they had four turnovers in the last two minutes and missed on a pair of free throws with eight seconds left that could have forced overtime.
Foul trouble plagues the Knights as well, as rookie center Hannah Oken-Berg (Fy./Portland, Ore./Lincoln) played only 13 minutes and scored only five points on 2-of-3 shooting. Vig was also limited to eight minutes of action in the first half, although she scored nine points. St. Olaf's Rigelman played only eight mintues in the first half due to foul trouble, which was compounded by the fact that starting post player Kristina Stoermer went down with a knee injury two minutes into the game and didn't return.
The Knights shot 43 percent from the field but were outscored 15-8 from the line as the Oles made 15-of-25 from the charity stripe. Ten of St.Olaf's 19 field goals were from beyond the arc.
The loss means that Carleton will the third or fourth seed in the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. The Knights host St. Mary's University on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 5:45 p.m. before traveling to Bethel University on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. Both games can be heard locally on KQCL 95.9 FM and worldwide on Knights Online.
