The Gustavus women’s basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 61-47 loss to George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. The Gusties, who trailed 36-19 at halftime, cut the lead to nine at 54-45 with 3:01 left in the game, but that was as close as they would get. Bri Monahan led Gustavus with 15 points.
The Gusties got off to a tough start making only three of their first 12 shots, however, aggressive defense allowed the team to stay close and a layup by Bri Monahan with 8:20 left in the half pulled Gustavus to within five at 20-15. George Fox controlled play for the rest of the half outscoring the Gusties 16-4 in the eight minutes to take a 36-19 lead into the locker room. Gustavus made only 8-of-27 shots (29.6 percent) in the first half, while the Bruins made an impressive 13-of-26 (50.0 percent) including a red-hot 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from three-point range. Bri Monahan led Gustavus with 11 points in the first 20 minutes, while Robin Taylor tallied 13 for George Fox.
The Bruins scored the first eight points of the second half to extend their lead to 22 points at 44-22 at the 16:48 mark. Gustavus would counter with a 9-2 run to cut the lead back to 15 at 46-31 with 12:00 left in the game. The Gusties would continue to chip away at the lead and when Katie Layman hit a jumper with 3:01 left, Gustavus pulled to within nine at 54-45. George Fox would put the game away with a three-point basket by Tiffany Behary (with :01 left on the shot clock) making the score 59-45 with 1:21 remaining. Bri Monahan would close out the scoring for Gustavus when she made a layup with :32 left to play.
George Fox advances to play conference rival Puget Sound, which surprised McMurry in the first game on Friday night.
Bri Monahan and Erin Boese both played their final game for the Gusties, who finished the season at 22-6. Monahan finished her career as Gustavus’ all-time leading scorer with 1,466 points.
Junior Jess Vadnais, who finished the season with a school record 523 points, made two three-point baskets in the game, which allowed her to tie Angie Peterson for three-point baskets made in a season with 62.