St. Joseph, Minn. – Megan Vig (Sr./Northfield, Minn.) scored 25 points and Andrea Korb’s (Sr./Tonganoxie, Kan.) jumper in the lane with 6.5 second left in overtime lifted Carleton College past top seed St. Benedict, 74-73, in overtime in the MIAC Playoff semifinals.
Sarah Kunelius (Fy./Eagan, Minn.) tallied a career-high 18 points, going 6-for-8 from three-point range, including three straight triples during a 21-3 run midway through the second half as the Knights (18-9) erased a 15-point, second half deficit in advancing to the MIAC Playoff title game for the sixth straight time in the event’s six-year history.
Anna Heikenen paced the Blazers (21-5) with 20 points, surpassing the 1,500-point mark for her career. The Blazers must wait until Monday morning to see if they receive one of the 21 at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The Knights advance to play Concordia-Moorhead in the title game on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.
The Blazers led 40-30 at the break and extended to a 45-30 margin before the Knights rallied. Vig got things started with a three, followed by three straight lone-range bombs by Kunelius to give Carleton its first lead of the game, 49-48 with under 11 minutes remaining. After a pair of Annie Isler (So./Minneapolis/Hopkins) free throws, the Blazers responded with a 10-0 spurt, capped by Jen Dalhed's two straight triples, pushing the lead back to seven for the hosts.
Vig was a monster over the final six minutes of regulation, scoring 13 points, and her two free throws with 11 seconds left forced overtime.
There were two ties and five lead changes in the extra session, with Hannah Oken-Berg (Fy./Portland, Ore./Lincoln) nailing two free throws with 32 seconds left to put Carleton in the lead. St. Benedict's Darby Noreen made two free throws with 17 seconds left, setting up Korb's heroics.
The senior point guard brought the ball up the floor, caught a high pick and drove to her left. Left open from just inside the free-throw line on the left side of the lane, the senior pulled up and knocked down the jumper. The Blazers, following a timeout, got the ball upcourt but Isler tipped the pass out of bounds on the left sideline in the deep corner. The Blazers tried to get the ball into Heikenen with 2.2 seconds left, but it was knocked away by Oken-Berg to seal the win.
The Blazers controlled the first half, scoring the first five points of the game and extending the margin to as many as 12, mainly by owning the offensive glass to the tune of 12 offensive boards which led to 11 second-chance points.
The Knights won despite the Blazers taking 25 more shots and committing only five turnovers. St. Benedict shot only 35 percent from the field to Carleton's 42 percent and the Knights knocked down a seaon-high 10 three-pointers, going 10-of-16 from beyond the arc. Carleton also held the Blazers' starting guards, Noreen and Katie Kempe, to a combined 4-for-28 evening. Noreen especially had a tough night, as the Blazers' second-leading scorer made her first field goal but missed her next 13.
Ellie Boone came off the bench for the Blazers to score 15 points abd grab seven rebounds, six on the offensive end. Dalhed was also in double figures with 11 points.
Oken-Berg added eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots while Sarah Lincoln (Fy./Rockford, Minn.) and Korb had seven points each. Senior Kari Christianson (Twin Valley, Minn./Norman Co. East) had but three points but added six assists (with only one turnover) and five rebounds.
Vig's point total moved her to second on Carleton's all-time scoring list with 1,656 points, as she passed Lisa Nordeen '90. Vig still trails Katherine Frewing '92 by 56 points for the top spot on Carleton's career scoring chart.
