St. Catherine used a 13-0 run during a five minute span in the second half to defeat Gustavus 63-59 in St. Paul, Minn. on Saturday. The Golden Gusties shot a dismal 24% from the floor in the second half as the team was outscored 34-24 by the Wildcats in the period. Three Wildcat players reached double-figures to help St. Catherine defeat Gustavus for the first time since the 1986-87 season.
Gustavus jumped out to a 11-2 lead on a Katie Layman (So., Hudson, Wis.) jumper with 5:28 elapsed in the first half. Minutes later the Gusties had their biggest lead of the contest at 13 points. The Wildcats gradually chipped away at the deficit for the remainder of the period as Gustavus went into intermission with a 35-29 lead. The Gusties shot 50% in the first half compared to 30% for the Wildcats.
St. Catherine received eleven points from Brooke Hakanson and Rachel Berglund during its decisive 13-0 run in the second half when the Wildcats took a 53-48 lead. Gustavus cut the lead to two points with 1:19 remaining on a Molly Mathiowetz (Fy., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) free throw. However, the Wildcats’ Jessica Arechigo went 4-4 from the charity stripe in the last 24 seconds to seal the 63-59 victory.
Bri Radtke (So., Winsted, Minn.) was the lone Gustie in double-digits as she scored 12 points, including 11 in the second half, and six rebounds. The Gustavus defense had 15 steals in the game to keep the game close despite shooting 36% from the field and 50% behind the free throw line. Rachel Berglund posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for St. Catherine. Jessica Arechigo and Molly Peterson recorded 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Strong free-throw shooting helped the Wildcats as the squad shot 11-12.
Gustavus, which dropped to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the MIAC, will travel to Winona, Minn. on Monday to face MIAC opponent Saint Mary’s University for a 7:30 pm tip-off. St. Catherine improved to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in league play with the victory.