Cold shooting continued to plague the Gustavus women’s basketball team in a 57-50 loss to St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon in St. Peter. The Golden Gusties were held to 23% from the field in the second half on 7-30 shooting on their way to the lowest point total of the season. St. Thomas committed 23 turnovers in the contest, but out-rebounded Gustavus 46-30.
Both teams traded baskets throughout the early portion of the first half before St. Thomas grabbed a 17-14 lead on a lay-up by Jazmin Townsend. The Gustavus defense triggered a 12-2 run aided by three consecutive Tommie turnovers that resulted in Gustie lay-ups. Bri Radtke tallied six points during the rally as Gustavus jumped out to a 26-19 lead. St. Thomas responded with a 14-2 run where four different players scored to close out the half with a 33-28 lead.
Gustavus got within three points quickly in the second half, but went four minutes without hitting a field goal until a three-pointer by Emily Nelson brought the score to 38-33. Unfortunately, the Gusties went scoreless for another 3:30 while St. Thomas opened up a 43-33 lead with 11:13 remaining. Five points by Radtke and four by Molly Mathiowetz fueled a 9-2 comeback to pull Gustavus within 47-44 with 5:17 left in the contest. After St. Thomas saw its lead dwindle to three points, the Tommies rattled off six straight points to put the game out of reach en route to a 57-50 victory.
Point guard Bri Radtke (So., Winsted, Minn.) led Gustavus in scoring for the second straight game with 14 points and a team high nine rebounds. Jessica Katch paced St. Thomas with 15 points and 15 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Katch was joined in double-figures by Carrie Embree and Andi Olson, who scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Gustavus, which fell to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the MIAC, will face Hamline in St. Peter on Wednesday at 7:30 pm. St. Thomas, which improved to 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the MIAC, will host Concordia in St. Paul on Wednesday at 5:45 pm.