The Gustavus women’s basketball team won its third game in a row with a 77-63 victory over St. Catherine on Wednesday night in St. Paul. Molly Mathiowetz owned the night, scoring her 1000th career point inside a game-high 18 point performance. Molly Geske matched Mathiowetz with 18 points as well, going 7-for-10 from the field in her best shooting performance of the season.
The Gusties improve to 14-8 overall and 13-6 in the MIAC with the victory. St. Kate’s falls to 4-17 overall and 3-15 in the MIAC.
Gustavus finished with four players in double-figures. Along with Mathiowetz and Geske, Eli Benz scored 13 points (6-7), while Abby Rothenbuehler added 10 points (5-10). The Gusties were 33-for-68 (48.5%) from the field, 4-for-16 (25%) from three point range, and 7-for-10 (70%) at the free throw line in the game.
The Wildcats had a trio of scorers with 17 points in Megan Zillmer (7-12), Sonja Ellingson (7-10), and Laura Kalbfell (5-9). St. Catherine went 24-for-54 (44.4%) from the field, 6-for-15 (40%) from three, and 8-for-11 (69.2%) at the line.
The Gusties scored on their opening possession of the game and didn’t look back. They held on to a double-digit advantage between the 8:15 and 2:34 marks of the half. Mathiowetz scored her 1000th point on a jumper with :17 seconds remaining in the half to give Gustavus a 40-31 advantage at the break. Geske led the Gusties with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the half, while Mathiowetz scored 10 and was 5-for-9 from the field.
Gustavus had almost identical shooting performances in the first and second half, shooting 48.6-percent in the first and 48.5-percent in the second.
St. Kate’s was able to cut the lead to six points (56-50) by the 9:46 mark of the second half. It would be the closest the Wildcats could get, as Gustavus used an 18-to-4 run in an over six-minute span to go up by 20 (74-54) and put the game out of reach with 3:35 left to play. Six different Gusties contributed points inside the run.
Mathiowetz led the way with eight second half points. Se would finish the game 9-for-17 from the field. The Sleepy Eye, Minn. native becomes the ninth player in Gustavus history to reach the 1000-point milestone, sitting in ninth place on all-time leading scorers list behind Pat Mickow (1079 pts.). With 521 rebounds and 1008 points, Mathiowetz is just the sixth player in Gustavus history to record 500 rebounds and 1000 points over a career.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Gusties 37-31 in the game, yet Gustavus won the turnover battle after registering a season-best seven give-aways compared to St. Kate’s 21.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will be in action against MIAC leader St. Thomas on Saturday, Feb. 12, in St. Peter, Minn. The Tommies enter the game with an overall record of 17-5 and a MIAC mark of 16-3. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. from Gus Young Court.