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Sophomore Maggie Weiers scored 18 points to lead the women’s basketball team to a 62-53 win over St. Olaf Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.

Weiers tallied ten of her 18 points in the second half, helping the women come back from a four point deficit at the end of the first half.

“My last few games have been kind of off,” Weiers said. “I think I was really composed during this game and was balanced and strong with my shots which helped me score more than two points (laughs).”

Senior Carolyn Dienhart said that Weiers played “awesome.”

“She was posting up really hard and finished really well,” Dienhart said.

“Everyone played together. It was teamwork, and it was lots and lots of fun because of that,” Weiers said.

Sophomore Taylor Young scored 15 points, ten of which came in the first half.

“It was definitely a battle,” Young said. “St. Olaf kind of had it out for us since we beat them at their place last time, and they are a very good team.”

St. Olaf made six of 11 attempted 3-pointers in the first half, and the No. 22-ranked Tommies rallied from a 32-28 halftime deficit with a 9-0 run to start the half and a 11-2 run midway through the period.

“We need to clean up our defense against the three’s,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “We are giving up way too many three’s.”

Freshman Anna Smith, who scored a career-best 12 points off the bench, said that the team needs to focus on defensive rebounding after the Oles tallied 14 total offensive rebounds.

“They were getting a lot of O-boards on us,” Smith said. ‘“I think we picked up our intensity in the second half, and it pulled us through.”

Mackenzie Wolter scored 18 points to lead St. Olaf.

The win keeps the Tommies one-game ahead of Gustavus for first place in the MIAC. Gustavus won 83-82 in overtime at Hamline. The Gusties hit a long three at the end of regulation to force the extra time.

St. Thomas plays Saturday at third-place St. Mary’s.

“They are a good team, so we just have to stay consistent,” Dienhart said. “We haven’t played them yet, and you never really know how those games go so I think we just have to expect it is going to be a really tough game.”

Patrick Roche can be reached at Roch6667@stthomas.edu