Macalester vs. St. Thomas statistics

Macalester and St. Thomas battled into overtime Saturday at Concordia University's Gangelhoff Center and when this thriller was all said and done, the Tommies had themselves a 76-75 victory. Mac's second straight defeat drops the Scots into fourth place in the MIAC standings at 11-4, while UST is right behind in fifth at 10-5.

A big three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the second half by Danielle Johnson (Sr., DeForest, Wis. / Madison Edgewood) put the Scots up 67-65, but UST's Rachel Booth, who finished with 24 points, seven blocked shots and nine rebounds, forced overtime with a basket with :21 left. Mac played for last shot of the half, but was whistled for an offensive foul.

In overtime, Mac's Jessica Rene (So., Eau Claire, Wis. / Memorial) made three free throws after getting fouled on a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to cut the Tommie lead to 76-75. The Scots forced a jump ball on the inbounds pass and took possession. Macalester missed a shot but UST turned it over after getting a rebound with :07 left. The Scots had one final chance, but missed a shot and an opportunity on an offensive rebound in the final three seconds.

Macalester led by seven points with six minutes to play. Mac was 2-for-14 in treys in the first half and made 6-of-8 in the second.  The Scots earned a 19-5 advantage in offensive rebounds.

MIAC scoring leader Ann Baltzer (Sr., Bismarck, N.D.) had 16 of her 23 points in the second half before fouling out with one minute left. Ranked second in the league in shooting percentage, Baltzer went 10-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw stripe.

Joining Baltzer in double figures were Trina PaStarr (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn. / Southwest) and Shannon Rene (So., Eau Claire, Wis. / Memorial) with 13 points each, while PaStarr grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Rene was 4-for-9 from behind the arc. Holly Schiedermayer (So., Waupaca, Wis.) pulled down nine boards to help Macalester out-rebound St. Thomas 42-32.

Eartha Bell (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn. / Breck School) matched her season-high with seven assists and also provided eight points, five rebounds and a couple steals. Johnson had nine points and four assists.

St. Thomas shot 55% on the day. This was the first time Macalester has played a game decided by less than 10 points since late November.

The Scots travel to St. Joseph on Monday (Feb. 1) to challenge second-place St. Benedict.