The Gustavus women’s basketball team won its sixth-straight MIAC contest against St. Catherine University Saturday afternoon in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties move to 9-2 overall and 7-1 in the MIAC, while the Wildcats fall to 1-10 overall and 0-8 in league play.
Junior forward Abby Rothenbuehler had a big day for the Gusties posting 14 points, a team-high nine rebounds and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Molly Geske led the team offensively with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including three three-pointers.
Gustavus started red-hot right from the get-go with the game’s first 13 points. It wasn’t until the 17:11 mark in the first half that the Wildcats put their first points on the board thanks to a Sarina Baker layup. Over the next 11:08, though, the Gusties went on a 25-10 run to go up 38-12 for their largest lead of the half. St. Kate’s outscored the Gusties 10-4 for the remainder of the half, but Gustavus took a 42-22 lead into the locker room at the break.
Geske was a major factor in the Gusties’ early lead by scoring 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first half. As a team, Gustavus shot 46.7-percent (14-of-30) from the field in the first 20 minutes.
The second half didn’t see much fluctuation in the scoring margin as the Gusties maintained their 20-point-plus lead throughout the frame. At the 3:40 mark in the second, Gustavus saw it’s largest lead of the day at 73-43 on a Colleen Ruane jumper. Ruane finished the game with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting and a game-high three steals.
Ava Perry scored a season-high 11 points as the fourth Gustie player to reach double digits. Perry also grabbed six boards in 21 minutes of action. Steph Comer led the victors off the bench with six points on two three-pointers.
The final score outweighed a great performance from Sarina Baker who led the Wildcats with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting. She also hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Gusties hit the road Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. match-up at the College of Saint Benedict.