ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College women's basketball team was outscored 27-13 in the fourth quarter in a 76-55 loss to the College of St. Scholastica Saturday afternoon in the Leonard Center. The conference loss drops the Scots to 9-10 overall and 4-8 in league play, while the Saints improve to 11-8 on the season and 8-4 in the MIAC.

Macalester opened the game with seven straight points in building a 10-4 lead, with senior guard Peyton Starks (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) scoring five points. St. Scholastica closed the first quarter with a 14-2 run over the final six minutes to take an 18-12 lead. After Starks tallied the first points of the second quarter, the Saints pushed their lead to 11, 26-15 with 5:48 on the clock. Four points from sophomore guard Sydnee Smith (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) and a basket by sophomore guard Mary Daley (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan) brought the Scots to within six, 26-20. The lead was seven, 30-23, when St. Scholastica tallied six of the final nine points of the quarter to give the Saints a 36-26 advantage at the break. Macalester shot 32.1 percent from the floor in the first half compared to 48.1 percent for St. Scholastica.

Trailing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, the Scots battled back, scoring the final five points of the quarter to make the score 49-42 heading into the fourth quarter. Starks registered eight points, four rebounds and three steals in the third quarter. In the final quarter, Smith scored on Macalester's first possession to make it a five-point game, 49-44. From that point the game turned, as back-to-back threes from Jackie Johnson sparked a momentum-changing 18-2 run that all but put the game away, 67-46 with 4:23 remaining. The Scots never came closer than 17 points the rest of the way, as the Saints completed the season sweep of Macalester.

St. Scholastica made 7-of-11 from beyond the arc after halftime, including 4-of-6 in the fourth quarter while holding the Scots to 23.5 percent shooting from the field in the final quarter. Starks registered 21 points, eight rebounds and five steals before fouling out. Smith tallied 12 points, five boards and two steals, with Norquist contributing a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals. Hope Carlson led St. Scholastica with 21 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Macalester continues MIAC play with a home game against St. Catherine University on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Leonard Center.