Colleen Ruane fights for a loose ball
The Gustavus women’s basketball team remained in first place in the MIAC with a convincing 68-49 win over Saint Mary’s on Wednesday night in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead and never looked back on their way to the 19-point victory. Gustie senior captain Bri Radtke led all scorers with 15 points.
Molly Geske got the Gusties off to a quick start scoring nine of the team’s first 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Geske’s scoring outburst gave Gustavus a 17-9 lead at the 13:26 mark. Leading 29-14 with five minutes to play in the half, Gustavus used a 10-2 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to build its lead to 23 points at 39-16. The Gusties led 43-22 at halftime.
Molly Geske scored 11 points for the Gusties.
Saint Mary’s went on a 12-3 run midway through the second half and cut the Gustie lead to 15 at 54-39 with 10:06 left to play. The Gusties answered with a 6-0 run to push their lead back to 21 points at 60-39 with 7:22 remaining in the game. The Cardinals would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way
Gustavus was led in scoring by Bri Radtke with 15 points. Others in double figures for Gustavus were Molly Geske with 11 and Ava Perry with 10. Molly Mathiowetz and Abby Rothenbuehler controlled the boards for the Gusties, grabbing five rebounds each. Jess Miller led Saint Mary’s with 13 points.
With the victory, Gustavus remains in a first place tie in the MIAC standings with Concordia with a record of 12-2. Saint Mary’s falls to 3-11 in league play.
The Gusties next game is at home on Saturday against St. Kate’s at 3:00 pm.