St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team got back on the winning track with a 76-57 win over St. Catherine University on Saturday afternoon at the Butler Center. The Gusties were hot from the floor right out the gate, shooting 60-percent from the field in the first half to grabbing a 45-26 lead by halftime. Karina Schroeder (Fy., Lake Crystal, Minn.) missed just one field goal all afternoon, going 8-for-9 from the floor to lead all scorers with a season-high 18 points.
Gustavus improves to 10-3 overall and 9-1 in the MIAC with the win, while St. Catherine drops to 1-12 overall and 0-10 in the MIAC.
Gustavus jumped out to an 11-0 lead before St. Catherine got on the scoreboard. The Gusties continued to pour the pressure on in the early minutes, going up 21-8 on a three-pointer by Rachelle Blaschko (Jr., Henderson, Minn.).
The Wildcats mounted a comeback after Blaschko’s three, cutting the lead to six points at the 11:12 (21-15) and 10:39 (23-17) marks.
The Gusties went on to outscore St. Catherine 22-9 in the final 10 minutes of the half, taking a 19 point lead into halftime.
Gustavus’ 18-for-30 shooting performance in the first half is a season-best. Twelve of Karina Schroeder’s 18 points came in the opening half as the rookie post went 6-for-6 from the floor.
The Gusties would go up 26 points (54-28) six minutes into the second half and 30 points (63-33) four minutes later at the 10:02 mark.
The Black and Gold shot 47.3-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. Kelsey Florian (Sr., Roseville, Minn.) led the way in the second half with eight points after going 2-for-2 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Gustavus finished the game 26-for-55 from the field (47.3%), 4-for-12 from behind the arc (33.3%), and 20-for-29 (69%) at the free throw line.
To go along with Schoeder’s 18 points, Florian and Blaschko also finished in double-figures. Florian had 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Blaschko had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Macalester shot 40-percent from the floor (22-55), 33.3-percent from three (7-21), and 60-percent (6-10) aft the charity stripe.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Sarina Baker, Kristen Lee, and Mary Neumann. Baker paced St. Kate’s with 17 points, while Lee and Neumann scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will be back on the hardwood Wednesday, Jan. 16 when the Gusties play host to Augsburg College at 7:30 p.m. on Gus Young Court.