The Gustavus women’s basketball team jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the first ten minutes of the game and never looked back on its way to a 58-43 win over Carleton in Northfield on Wednesday night. The Gusties, who led 26-15 at half, built their lead to as many as 22 points in the second half before finishing with a 15-point victory. Molly Geske scored a season-high 23 points including a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. Gustavus is now 13-2 overall and 11-1 in the MIAC.
Both teams had difficulty making shots in the first half as Gustavus made just 9-of-29 from the field (31.0 percent), while Carleton made just 5-of-31 shots (16.1 percent). Carleton made its first two shots and led 4-2, but then the Knights scored just one point over the next ten minutes and the Gusties used a 12-1 run to lead 14-5 at the 8:44 mark. Gustavus pushed its lead to 14 points at 26-12 with 1:12 on the clock and led 26-15 at the intermission. Molly Geske provided the offensive spark for the Gusties as she scored 13 of the team’s 26 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
Gustavus outscored Carleton 7-0 to start the second half and led by 18 at 33-15 at the 15:34 mark. The Gusties would push their lead to 22 points before the Knights used a 15-6 run to cut the lead to 13 points at 48-35 with 6:27 left to play. Gustavus put the game away with an 8-2 run that pushed the lead back to 19 points at 56-37 at the 2:44 mark.
Joining Geske in double-digits for Gustavus was Ava Perry with 10 points. The Gusties out-rebounded the Knights 49-36, while also forcing Carleton into 17 turnovers with the aid of seven steals.
Gustavus extended its conference win streak to six games and improved its league mark to 11-1, which is the second best start in league play in the program’s history.
The Gusties will travel to Moorhead for an important matchup with second place Concordia on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm. Gustavus defeated Concordia 66-61 in St. Peter on December 5. The Cobbers improved to 10-2 with a convincing 76-57 win over St. Thomas in Moorhead on Wednesday night.