Piper women knock off first place Knights

Carleton scored first to open the game, but that initial lead was the only one the Knights would hold until there were five and a half minutes remaining in the game. Hamline carried a 26-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, with 5:31 remaining, the Knights sent Sarah Kunelius (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) to the free throw line, where she made two shots to give Carleton a 47-46 lead. The Pipers immediately got the lead back when Mary Wilkowski (Fy., Savannah, Ga.) converted the free throw to complete a three-point play and put Hamline back up, 49-47.

The lead changed hands four more times in the last five minutes, and included another three-point play, this one a shot from outside the arch by Rochelle Sather (So., Andover, Minn.) with 3:25 left to play.

Carleton answered with a three-pointer of their own at 2:40 to grab a 53-52 advantage, but Wilkowski sank a jumper with 2:24 left to put the Pipers up 54-53.

After a Carleton free throw tied the game at 54-54, Sather made a free throw of her own with 12 seconds on the clock to put the home team up 55-54. She added a second shot from the line with six seconds remaining to make the final score 56-54 when a Carleton shot attempt at the buzzer was unsuccessful.

Sather led the Piper scoring with 16 points. Wilkowski had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Krystal Tschumperlin added 12 points and six rebounds and Jessica Heinen (Jr., Spicer, Minn.) had seven rebounds. Britta Schwartzhoff (Jr., Hayward, Wis.) had five assists for the Pipers.

The Knights were led by Sarah Lincoln’s (Jr., Rockford, Minn.) 15 points and nine rebounds. Hannah Oken-Berg (Jr., Portland, Ore.) pulled in 11 boards for Carleton.

The Pipers improved to 7-3, 4-3 MIAC while the Knights fell to 6-4, 5-2 MIAC. Hamline travels to St. Catherine this Saturday, January 11 for a 3:00 p.m. start.

Hamline University belongs to the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. Hamline supports 19 intercollegiate athletic teams for men and women. Find out more about Hamline athletics at www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics.

Creative and innovative teaching and learning attract a diverse student body of nearly 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students to Hamline University. Challenged to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, Hamline students develop an individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.

Ranked first in Minnesota among comprehensive master’s universities by U.S.News & World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota’s first university, founded in 1854, and among the first co-educational institutions in the nation.