Junior post player Bri Monahan (Hutchinson, Minn.) poured in 31 points and ripped down 14 rebounds to lead the Gustavus women’s basketball team to a 79-64 win over Hamline on Saturday in St. Paul. Monahan finished the game 11-of-24 from the field and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
Gustavus fell behind early as the Pipers opened the game on a 7-0 run and trailed by seven at 19-12 with 9:25 remaining in the first half. Fueled by a layup by sophomore guard Jess Vadnais (Hudson, Wis.) and five points by Monahan, the Gusties charged back to tie the game at 19-19. Gustavus would not let up, though, finishing the half on a 22-7 run to take a 34-26 lead at the intermission.
The Gusties continued to pressure the Pipers inside in the second half, drawing fouls and marching to the free throw line. Monahan and Vicky Peterson (So., Plymouth, Minn.) benefited the most, going a combined 12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the second half, while the team as a whole finished 18-of-23 during the period. The Pipers went to the line only four times, making all four attempts.
Gustavus extended the lead to a game-high 18 points on a layup by Monahan with 3:58 remaining in the game. Hamline edged the Gusties 9-6 down the stretch to set Gustavus’ final margin of victory at 15 points.
Vadnais hit 5-of-16 shots from the field, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to finish second behind Monahan in points for Gustavus with 15. Vadnais also finished with four boards, four assists and five steals. Peterson was next with nine points, all in the second half, while also ripping down six rebounds.
The Pipers had a trio of players in double-figures, led by Carolyn Korchik with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Laurisa Ewert scoring 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Ashley Vorwerk rounded out the group with 10 points off the bench.
For the game, the Pipers outshot the Gusties 48.0 percent to 34.2 percent, but Gustavus controlled the offensive boards, corralling 28 rebounds off their own miss. Gustavus also out-rebounded Hamline 47-29 overall.
Neither team was afraid to throw up a shot from behind the three-point line, with the Gusties making 9-of-21 attempts led by Vadnais (3-6) and Monahan (2-3). Hamline finished 7-of-15 from long distance with Korchick making four of six attempts. Megan Haugen made three of four attempts to finish with nine points.
With her big game, Monahan became only the second player in Gustavus history to record two 30-point games in the same season, following Linn Erickson, who did it three times in January 1987. Monahan also joins Erickson (5) and Jeri Ree (2) as the only Gustie women’s basketball players with multiple 30-point games during their career.
Monahan’s 24 field goal attempts also rank second all-time for a single game. Ree went 16-of-38 from the field when she set the Gustavus single-game scoring record of 33 points against University of Sioux Falls in 1985.
The Gusties improve to 11-3 overall, 9-2 in the MIAC, while extending their winning streak to seven games. Hamline drops to 7-8 overall, 4-7 in the conference.
Gustavus, which owns a share of the lead in the MIAC, will travel to Moorhead on Wednesday for a game with Concordia.