Northfield, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team rang in the year with a 68-64 loss to St. Olaf College on Saturday afternoon at the Skoglund Center. Despite a career-high 28-point scoring performance by Britta Rinke (Sr., Waconia, Minn.), St. Olaf was able to outlast the Gusties for its second straight conference victory.
Gustavus drops to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the MIAC with the loss, while St. Olaf improves to 6-2 overall and 4-1 overall with the victory.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the early stages of the game, St. Olaf used a 14-4 scoring-run to take advantage 20-10 with 12:42 remaining in the opening half. Gustavus dug its way back to cut the lead to four points (32-28) with 3:29 on the clock, but St. Olaf held on to the advantage and went into halftime with a 35-30 lead.
Britta Rinke led all scorers in the first half with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Julia Dysthe (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) went 2-for-3 from three-point range and made a pair of free throws for eight points.
After the Gusties brought the score to within four (40-36) at the 16:51 point of the second half, the Oles jumped out to a 49-36 lead following a 13-point scoring-surge. Gustavus did not go down quietly and began to chip away at the lead at the 8:44 mark. After an 8-0 run, the Gusties had cut the lead to 56-52 with 4:28 on the clock. The Gusties came closer than four points just once more – with :20 seconds left (67-64) – in the remaining minutes of the game.
Gustavus finished the game 23-for-65 (35.4%) from the field, 5-for-19 from three-point range (26.3%), and 13-for-15 (86.7%) at the line. St. Olaf went 25-for-61 (41%) from the field, 6-for-21 (28.6%) from three, and 12-for-26 (46.2%) at the stripe.
With 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor in the second half, Britta Rinke brought her point total to a game-high 28. She also recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds (8 defensive), and finished the game 11-for-21 from the field and 6-for-7 at the line. Dysthe was next in line in scoring with 16 points after going 5-for-11 from the field, 4-for-9 from three, and 2-for-2 at the line.
St. Olaf’s scoring was paced by Emily Wahlberg with 17 points, Sheridan Blanford with 11 points, and Kim Cerjan with 10 points.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will be back on the court Monday, Jan. 6 in a home contest against Macalester set for 7:30 p.m.