Storm Lake, Iowa – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a 68-51 victory over Buena Vista University. In what was a turnaround showing compared to yesterday’s loss, the Gusties played lock-down defense and limited turnovers, holding the Beavers to 29.2-percent shooting from the field and winning the turnover battle 14-10. The Gusties were led in scoring by Julia Dysthe (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Kelsey Florian (Roseville, Minn.) who both finished in double-figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Gustavus moves to .500 with victory and is now 1-1 on the year, while Buena Vista drops to 1-3 overall.
The Gusties scored the opening points of the game on a Julia Dysthe jumper, going on a 5-0 run to start. They would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
After Buena Vista cut the advantage to three points (12-9) on a Lexi Fisher three-pointer, Gustavus responded with a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 22-9 with 7:21 remaining in the half.
The Beavers would bring the deficit down to seven points (22-15) with 6:24 left in the half, yet could not close the gap further from that point. An Abby Rothenbuehler (North Mankato, Minn.) layup gave Gustavus its largest lead of the half at 33-16, and a Florian layup brought the frame to a close with Gustavus up 35-21.
Florian led the Gusties in scoring in the first half with 10 points. Gustavus shot 40.6-percent from the field compared to Buena Vista’s 29-percent shooting performance.
Buena Vista would cut the lead to 11 on two occasions in the second half, yet Gustavus answered with three-pointer on the ensuing possession both times. Stephanie Comer’s (Minnetonka, Minn.) three-pointer on the latter ignited a 9-0 run that would put the Gusties on top 53-33 with 11:28 remaining in the game.
The run proved to be the difference as Gustavus held on to a big lead for the remaining minutes. Dysthe led the way in scoring in the second half with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
The Gusties shot 39.7-percent (25-63) from the field in the game. Dysthe’s game-high 15 points came on a 6-for-12 shooting performance, while Florian scored 14 on 5-for-11 shooting. Rothenbuehler came just shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. She also blocked five shots in the contest.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 26 in a non-conference game against MSU, Mankato at 7:00 p.m. in Mankato, Minn.