NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Junior Keegan Mulvihill hit a pull-up jumper from the right baseline with 1.3 seconds remaining to give the St. Olaf College women's basketball team a 68-66 Senior Day victory over Macalester College on Saturday afternoon at Skoglund Center.
With the score tied at 66-66, Mulvihill grabbed a loose ball and drilled a jumper with 1.3 seconds remaining for the game-winning shot for St. Olaf (9-16, 6-14 MIAC). After Mulvihill's shot, Macalester (1-24, 0-20 MIAC) inbounded the ball to near the half-court line but had a desperation shot come up well short.
The win closed out the careers of St. Olaf's five seniors: Britta Koenen, Ella Skrien, Kelsie Gerovac, Allyson Fuller and Katie Crowley. The five were honored on the court along with their families prior to tip-off.
Skrien paced St. Olaf with 15 points to go with four rebounds and five assists. Koenen added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists, while first year Rachel Kelly had 10 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
Crowley and Skrien each connected on their first three-pointers of the game to help the Oles to a quick 7-3 lead two minutes in. The early four-point lead was tied for the largest of the quarter for St. Olaf, which took a 17-16 edge into the second.
The Oles led by five on five occasions in the second quarter but were unable to extend their lead to more than that as the Scots hung around and went into the locker room down just one, 33-32, after a layup by Holly Hull in the final seconds.
Macalester opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run to take a six-point lead and later went ahead by double digits, 50-40, on a three-pointer by Justine Barraza with 3:05 left in the third. Late three-pointers from first years Grace Hegland and Sophie Olmen kept the Oles down by just eight entering the fourth.
St. Olaf started the final quarter on a 12-2 run over the first three-plus minutes to reclaim the lead at 58-56, with Skrien scoring the final five points of the run. The Scots took the lead back and led 63-58 with 5:26 to go before the Oles scored the next eight points to go up three with 1:08 left after another Skrien jumper.
Barraza hit a game-tying three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining to knot the game at 66-66 and set up Mulvihill's heroics. Mulvihill's shot came after Gerovac grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot to give the Oles a second chance at a decisive basket.
Barraza scored a game-high 21 points and added seven rebounds for Macalester. Celine Sabbagh and Hull were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.