The Gustavus women’s basketball team stayed close to Division II Augustana College in the first half on Saturday afternoon, but the depth and strength of the Vikings squad wore the Gusties down in the second half allowing Augustana to pull away for a 93-57 win in Sioux Falls, S.D. Abby Rothenbuehler led Gustavus in scoring with 12 points.
Augustana jumped out to an early 18-6 lead, but Gustavus rallied with an 11-2 run to cut the lead to three points at 20-17 with 10 minutes left in the first half. The Vikings used a 13-5 run in the final four minutes of the half to extend its lead to 44-30 at the intermission.
A 10-4 run to start the second half allowed Augustana to extend its lead to 20 points at 54–34 with 15:26 left to play. That is as close as the Gusties would get the rest of the way as the Vikings built its lead to 38 points at 84-46 at the 4:45 mark before finishing with the 93-57 victory.
Gustavus placed two players in double figures as Rothenbuehler scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from the free throw line and Molly Mathiowetz contributed 10 points.
The Gusties, who are now 1-2 on the season, will not play next weekend over the Thanksgiving Break, but return to play on Saturday, Dec. 4 when they open MIAC play at home against Concordia at 1 pm.