The Gustavus women’s basketball team dropped to 2-2 in the MIAC with a 67-53 loss to St. Thomas in St. Peter, Minn. on Wednesday night. The Gusties closed to within four points (47-51) with 7:26 left in the game, but the Tommies finished with a 16-6 run to claim the 14-point victory. Erica Opdahl led St. Thomas with 23 points, while Bri Monahan led Gustavus with 17 points.
The first ten minutes of the first half was tightly contested as neither team led by more than three points. However, the Tommies began to assert themselves in the second part of the first half extending their lead to as many as 11 points at 28-17 with 2:08 to play. Gustavus cut the lead to eight points at 30-22 on a three-point basket by Sara Boldt with 1:13 left, but the Tommies’ Melissa Gotchnik scored a layup with :03 seconds left on the clock to give St. Thomas a 32-22 lead at the intermission.
St. Thomas maintained its double digit lead through the first seven minutes of the second half and led 43-33 with 13:23 left in the game. The Gusties countered with an 8-1 run over the next two minutes to cut the Tommie lead to three at 44-41 with 11:27 on the clock. Gustavus managed to stay close over the next four minutes and trailed 51-47 with 7:26 left to play, but St. Thomas scored five quick point to extend the lead to nine at 56-47 at the 6:53 mark. The Gusties would get no closer than seven points the rest of the game.
Gustavus shot 35.7 percent from the field (20-56) and 20.0 percent from three-point range (2-13). Bri Monahan led the Gusties in scoring with 17 points, while Jess Vadnais contributed 14. St. Thomas shot 57.8 percent from the field (26-45) and 41.7 percent from behind the arc (5-12). Erica Opdahl, who was a perfect 10-10 from the field, led the Tommies in scoring with 23 points. St. Thomas out-rebounded the Gustavus 34-24.
Gustavus falls to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC, while the Tommies improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAC.