NORTHFIELD, Minn.- The Macalester College women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker in overtime to St. Olaf College tonight, 60-59. With their first win of 2018, the Scots are now 5-8 and 2-5 in the MIAC.
 
In a very close game, the Scots and the Oles traded baskets the first quarter with the Scots down two at the end, 16-14. After three minutes in two the second quarter, Macalester took the lead with a jumper by senior Vivi Gregorich (Boulder, Colo./ Boulder) who scored five points on the night. With that jumper, Macalester continued to outscore St.Olaf 19-9 in the second quarter and went into halftime up 33-25. The Scots lead came again from a whole team offensive effort as six different players tallied points in the quarter.
 
The Scots were led by the senior tandem of guard Leah Gray (San Rafael, Calif./ Branson School) and center Regan Fruh (Helena, Mont./Helena) who each scored 11 points on the night.
 
The third quarter seemed promising for the Scots as they reached a 10-point lead throughout the quarter. However, with two minutes to go, the Oles began a comeback that saw the gap close to just 43-4. The play returned back to trading baskets in the fourth quarter, with the Scots unable to shake the Oles with five ties. With the score 52-50 in favor of the Scots, Samantha Tisa of St. Olaf shot a score-tying layup in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
 
In an overtime period that seem to favor the team who had the ball last, the Scots led 59-58 with eight seconds left. Macalester could not defend yet another last minute score from Tisa as she scored the game winning layup with four seconds left.
 
First year guard Justine Barraza (Burbank, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) had another strong game with nine points, the same as scored by sophomore guard Holly Hull (Overland Park, Kan./ Blue Valley Northwest).
 
The Oles were led by Samantha Tisa who scored 20 points on the night.
 
The Scots return to action away against St. Mary's on Sat., Jan. 13 in Winona, Minn. at 3:00 p.m.