St. Paul, Minn. – The Macalester College women's basketball team played its final game of the regular season tonight against Hamline. The Pipers came out strong in the second half and beat the Scots 59-55. The Scots end the regular season 8-17 (6-16 MIAC).
After giving up the first four points, the Scots went on a 9-0 run starting with a layup from junior forward
Emma LaFrenz (Edina, Minn./Edina). In the run the Scots would make 5-of-6 free throws. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth battle with first year guard forwards
Peyton Starks (St. Louis, MO./John Burroughs School) and
Katherine Norquist (Chicago, Ill./Walter Payton College Prep) putting up six more points for the Scots, taking a 15-11 lead into the second.
The Pipers would tie the game up three times early in the quarter, at 15, 17, and 19. A free throw from senior guard
Celine Sabbagh (Eau Claire, Wis./Regis) and a layup from sophomore guard
Andrea Palmen (Kenosha, Wis./The Prairie School) would put the Scots up 22-19 with 5:50 on the clock. The Pipers would make another basket but junior guard
Solana Cushing (Minneapolis, Minn./South) would make an important three to send the Scots up four, 25-21 with 5:06 on the clock. The Scots continued to press and took a 33-26 lead at the break.
The Pipers started the second half strong, posting a 9-2 run to tie the game at 35 halfway through the quarter. Sophomore guard
Maia Pedrosa (South San Francisco, Calif./Urban School of San Francisco) answered back with a basket, but the Pipers would continue their offensive attack and take the lead 39-37 with 2:29 on the clock. Both teams pushed to get baskets and at the last second, Sabbagh drained an important three pointer to tie the game at 43 going into the fourth.
Macalester and Hamline both started the last 10 minutes making important stops. However, Macalester would go on a 7-1 run with Sabbagh again making an important three for the Scots, going up 50-44 with 7:16 left. The Pipers never backed down and went on to overtake the Scots in the end, 59-55.
Sabbagh led the team with 15 points. Cushing and LaFrenz each totaled nine points. LaFrenz also totaled a team high 15 rebounds.
The Scots begin the first round of the MIAC playoffs on the road at 1:00 p.m. at Carleton.
