Miranda Rice came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting in Gustavus's nine point loss to Saint Ben's on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Laura Westphal - Sport PiX.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team suffered a 69-60 loss to the College of Saint Benedict in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court. The Gusties got off to a slow start from which they never recovered, trailing by nine points at halftime and by as many as 20 points halfway through the second half.
Gustavus finishes the regular season with an overall record of 17-8 and an MIAC mark of 11-7. The Gusties wound up fifth in the conference standings and will now head on the road for the opening round of the MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Gustavus will make the trek to Winona for a quarterfinal matchup against Saint Mary’s University at 7:00 p.m. Saint Benedict finishes its 2014-15 campaign 12-13 overall and 9-9 in the MIAC.
“I’m disappointed in our effort today,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “Maddie Ehrich was a huge loss for us and that was apparent today. We didn’t have anybody step up and fill the void of her not being in the lineup, which is something that will be addressed as we move forward and move on into the postseason. It never seemed like we got into the flow of the game and struggled to get on track. It’s unfortunate because we had an opportunity to win at home on Senior Day and secure the three seed in the MIAC Playoffs and host a home postseason game.”
Although Gustavus shot 48-percent from the field in the second half – an improvement on its 33.3-percent clip in the first – it finished the game 40-percent (22-55) from the field. Saint Ben’s was consistent from the floor throughout, finishing with a 50.9-percent shooting percentage by the final buzzer.
The Gusties finished with three players in double-figures, which included Mikayla Miller (Fy., Goodhue, Minn.) with 20 points (8-18 FG, 2-6 3PT, 2-4 FT), Miranda Rice (Fy., Forest Lake, Minn.) with 12 (5-5 FG, 2-2 FT) off the bench, and Hannah Howard (So., St. Paul, Minn.) with 11 (4-8 FG, 3-4 FT). Stephanie Klockmann (Fy., Brownton, Minn.) added seven points (3-4 FG, 1-2 FT) to go along with a game-high seven rebounds.
“Our freshman played really well,” added Kelly. “Mikayla Miller continues to prove that she will fight for you, and Miranda Rice had one of the her best shooting nights of the season, and Stephanie Klockmann provided good minutes and filled out the box score on the glass.”
The Gusties finished with a 33-to-20 edge in rebounds, giving up only four offensive boards throughout the day. They did lose the turnover batter, however, 20-to-16.
“To lose at home on Senior Day and now drop to the fifth seed is disappointing, but that’s the hand we were dealt,” concluded Kelly. “We are coming off a nice win against Saint Mary’s recently, so the goal is to go on the road and try to recapture that same energy. We are excited to be headed to the postseason and look forward to a return to our ‘road warrior’ mentality as we move forward.”