The Gustavus women’s basketball team jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back on its way to a 77-61 win over Carleton in the MIAC opener for both teams on Wednesday night in St. Peter. The Gusties were led by senior point guard Bri Radtke who scored 15 points and registered 13 assists. Other Gusties in double figures included senior forward Julia Schultz with 16 points and Ava Perry with 13.
Gustavus, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to an early 10-0 lead on a flurry of three-point baskets, two by Julia Schultz and one by Molly Geske. The Gusties lead would get no bigger than 10 points in the first half, but the Knights would get no closer than five points. Gustavus held a 36-30 lead at halftime.
Carleton came out of the locker room charged up after halftime and quickly cut the lead to three points at 38-35 after a lay-up by Akemi Arzouman at the 17:31 mark. The Knights would keep the game close through the first eight minutes of the second half as Gustavus led by five at 49-44 with 12:30 remaining in the game. The Gusties, however used a 5-0 run to bump the lead back to ten points at 54-44 and Carleton would get no closer than eight points the rest of the contest. Gustavus pulled away in the final eight minutes of play building its lead to as many as 17 points at 75-58 at the 1:23 mark. Ava Perry sparked the Gusties in the second half as she scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Gustavus was red hot from the field in the second half making 62.5 percent of its shots (15-of-24) including 4-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.
For the game, the Gusties shot 49.2 percent from the field (29-of-59), 50.0 percent from behind the arc (9-of-18), and 76.9 percent from the free throw line (10-of-13). Julia Schultz led the Gusties in scoring with 16 points, followed by Radtke with 15, and Perry with 13. The Knights shot 44.9 percent from the field (22-of-49), 60.0 percent from three-point range (6-10), and 73.3 percent from the free throw line (11-15). Ally Weaver and Akemi Arzouma both scored 18 points to lead Carleton.
Bri Radtke’s 13 assists are the second highest single game total in the program’s history and the most by a Gustavus player in 12 years. Sara Johnson holds the Gustavus record for assists in a game with 16 set against Carleton on February 21, 1985.
Gustavus will host Concordia on Saturday at 1:00 pm, while the Knights will stay on the road and face St. Ben’s in St. Joseph on Saturday at 3:00 pm.