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Women's basketball defeats St. Thomas, 72-70

Jill Johnson
February 19, 2004

The St. Olaf Oles hosted the St. Thomas Tommies on Wednesday, February 18 for the last home game of the season. The Oles, coming off a tough loss against Macalaster College the past Saturday, were still looking for their second victory of the season. The Oles beat the playoff-bound Tommies 72-70 in their best showing of the year.

The Oles played an uptempo game from the tip-off. Jill Johnson (Sr., Butterfield, Minn.) scored the first seven points of the contest and the Oles found themselves up 20-6 after seven minutes of play. The Tommies responded with a 9-0 scoring run of their own bringing them back within five. While the Oles brought the lead back up to 12, the Tommies made a run at the end of the half to come within four. A running jumper at the end of the half by Molly Simon (Jr., Hudson, Wisc.) put the Oles up by six at the break.

Although the Oles had struggled all season to put together a complete game, they put all the pieces together to maintain their lead and get a victory. St. Olaf came out of the locker room on fire and went on a 9-2 scoring run to expand the lead to 13. The Tommies slowly crept back into the game and the contest was tied with 2:12 left to play. In the final minutes, the Oles were 7-8 from the freethrow line. The Oles were up by four with seconds to play, but Tommie Kristi Huegel hit a jumper to put them within 2. Despite a last second turnover by Johnson allowing 2 lay-up attempts by the Tommies in the final seconds, the Oles won the contest 72-70.

The St. Olaf starting backcourt had a stellar outing. Christine Schwictenberg (So., Hopkins, Minn.), Holly Grimsrud (FY, Zumbrota, Minn.) and Simon combined for 44 of the Oles 72 points. Schwictenberg had 10, hitting 4 of 5 from the free throw line, Grimsrud had 15 points and three steals, and Simon had 19 points along with ten rebounds, marking her first career double-double. Johnson also scored in double figures with 18. The Oles shot a season-high 44.4 percent from the field, including an astounding 47.8 percent from behind the arc, and shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Oles travel to Hamline University on Saturday, February 21, for their final game of the season.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3834 or finger@stolaf.edu.