The Gustavus women’s basketball team let a one-point halfitme lead slip away to drop a key conference game to Concordia 62-76. Both teams entered with identical conference records of 8-3 and 10-4 overall. Kristin Kachelmyer led the Gusties with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jess Vadnais and Sara Boldt also scored in double figures for Gustavus. Mandy Pearson had 17 points and eight steals to lead the Cobbers to the win.
The Gusties led for most of the first half, but two late layups by Concordia’s Leanne White off Gustavus turnovers cut the Gusties’ lead to only one point heading into the locker room. A 20-4 run by the Cobbers early in the second half put them up by 13 points with just over 11 minutes to play, a deficit the Gusties would not recover from for the rest of the game. Concordia held a double-digit lead for all but 17 seconds for the rest of the half and closed out a 76-62 win.
Gustavus shot 50.0% (15-30) from the field during the first half, but dropped to only 29.2& (7-24) in the second half. The teams’ 26 turnovers also proved to be costly down the stretch. With the loss, Gustavus falls to 8-4 in the MIAC and 10-5 overall, good for fourth place in the conference.
The Gusties will try to get back on the winning track on Saturday, January 29 in a rematch with St. Kate’s. Gustavus won the previous matchup 78-56 on December 6. Tip off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in St. Peter.