NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College women's basketball team maintained possession of the President's Cup with a 61-55 victory over cross-town rival Saint Olaf College. First-years Audrey Whitney (18 points), Liesl McCallum (15), and Addy Huss (12) paced the Knights in scoring
 
In the first Carleton-St. Olaf rivalry game for our inexperienced team, it was a great opportunity for us to learn and grow," said Carleton head coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen. "I'm very pleased with the way we bounced back from our game earlier in the week and focused on the details on both ends of the floor that we have to attend to in order to be successful. We brought the energy and battled for 40 minutes; I'm proud of our team.
 
"I love our players and their determination to be relentless, trust each other, and connect day after day - no matter what the score. That is what gives us hope for the future as we build this program back one brick at a time."
 
Both sides started slow, and Carleton (3-14 2-8 MIAC) trailed 2-1 before McCallum converted in the lane at the 7:08 mark of the opening stanza. The Knights would play from in front the rest of the way. They built a commanding 17-6 lead after the first quarter, thanks to their defensive effort, forcing St. Olaf (6-11, 0-10 MIAC) to miss its first 13 attempts from the field while the Carleton offense shot an efficient 6-of-10 in the period.
 
In the second quarter, the Knights started like they finished the first, pushing their 11-point lead up to 15 with 8:36 left in the first half. Then the Oles caught fire, piecing together a 12-2 run to trim a once 21-6 deficit to 23-18 with 3:00 to go in the half. The five-point lead would hold until the Knights scored five points during the final 68 seconds to carry a 30-20 lead into the locker room.
 
Whitney had the hot hand for the Knights in the early going, leading all scorers with 11 points thanks to a 3-of-5 showing from downtown. Huss also logged three steals across the first 20 minutes of action.
 
In the third quarter, the Knights saw their lead trimmed to as little as eight. A strong close to the period, however, including a last-second 3-pointer by Liz Hiatt, handed the Knights a 48-36 cushion heading into the fourth.
 
Carleton led 50-38 with 7:48 remaining before the Oles used a 14-4 spurt to cut the Knights' lead down to 54-52 with 2:06 to play. Selma Vangstein drained a pair of free throws, and with 1:04 remaining, and Huss recovered an offensive rebound and sank a layup to give Carleton a six-point game. St. Olaf hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left, but Vangstein and Whitney iced the game with free throws.
 
The Knights shot 20-of-46 (43.5 percent) from the field, including 7-of-15 (season-best 46.7 percent) from 3-point range and 14-of-24 from the line. Carleton's extra free throw attempts proved critical, as the Oles shot 20-of-63 (31.7 percent) from the field, 7-of-33 (21.2 percent) from beyond the arc, and only 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
 
Vangstein finished with seven points, six assists, and three steals. Huss added a team-best eight boards and five steals to her stat sheet. Jasmine Maldonado chipped in a career-high five points off the bench.
 
The Oles were led by the MIAC leader in field goal percentage, Chloee Smith, with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Sophia Kormann was the other Ole in double figures with 14 tallies.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to the College of Saint Scholastica for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday, Jan. 29.