Photo courtesy of Layne Pitt, UW-Stout Athletics
MENOMONIE, Wis. — Gustavus women’s basketball kicked off its 2022-23 campaign Tuesday night against UW-Stout, and did so in impressive fashion, rolling to a 72-53 victory over the Blue Devils to start the regular season.
The Gusties put on a dominant performance on both ends of the court in the first quarter, putting up 20 points and holding the Blue Devils to just four. The Gusties nearly doubled their point total in the second quarter, heading into halftime with a 39-20 advantage.
“I thought we came out of the gate great, especially on the defensive end,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “To hold them to just four points in the first quarter set the tone for the entire game. Credit to Stout, they definitely picked up their defense and forced us to play faster than we wanted to, but having that 19-point cushion going into the locker room was a really positive note.”
While the Blue Devils would manage to string together four points to cut the deficit to 18, their efforts weren’t nearly enough to keep pace with the Gusties, as Gustavus closed out quarter three with their biggest lead of the game — 26 points — heading into the game’s final 10 minutes. UW-Stout posted its largest scoring run of the game in the final quarter, but couldn’t keep up with the high-powered Gustie offense, as Gustavus sealed the deal with a 72-53 victory.
Anna Sanders (Sr., Vadnais Heights) posted a team-leading 16 points for the Gusties in their season opener with Kylie Baranick (So., Maple Grove) not far behind, netting 15 of her own. Sanders and Baranick shared the team lead in rebounds with seven each, while Grace Benz (Sr., Steele, N.D.) added six to the total. As a team, the Gusties shot 50.9% percent from the field (27-for-53) — including five 3-pointers — and finished 13 of 20 from the free throw line.
“We had a balanced scoring, especially from our guards. To see our starting point guard and starting two-guard with seven rebounds each was really impressive. When you shoot the ball 50% and hold your opponents to 36%, it shows that we’re sound defensively and can shoot the ball well and win the battle on rebounds, which was a goal of ours ahead of tonight’s game.
“We limited their second-chance opportunities and performed really well on the glass. There’s always areas to improve, but there’s definitely a lot to build on tonight and we have plenty of opportunities to learn and focus on new areas of growth moving forward.”
The Gusties, now 1-0, are off until Nov. 16 when the host Simpson for the team’s home opener at 7 p.m.