Arden Hills, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team was not able to recover from a nine point first half deficit and as a result suffered a 64-50 loss to Bethel University on Wednesday night at the Robertson Center Gym. Although seniors Britta Rinke (Waconia, Minn.) and Julia Dysthe (White Bear Lake, Minn.) combined for 34 points, the Gusties couldn’t match Bethel’s inside presence and depth in the loss.
Gustavus has dropped its last three games and is now 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the MIAC. Bethel improved to 8-1 overall and remains undefeated in league play at 6-0.
Following a back-and-forth start, Bethel took a 12-11 lead on a jumper by Lexi Friesen at the 11:25 mark of the first half. Friesen’s bucket turned out to be the final lead change of the game, as Gustavus could not close the gap on the Royals for the remainder of the contest.
A three-pointer by Julia Dysthe with 3:57 left in the half cut the lead to 25-22, but Bethel’s defense locked the Gusties down for the rest of the frame and the game went into halftime with the home team leading 29-22.
Gustavus shot 31-percent from the field in the opening half, while Bethel shot 27.3-percent. The rebounding margin was already lopsided after the opening 20 minutes as the Royals held a 27-17 advantage, which included a 13-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Bethel pushed its lead to 15 points by the 16:10 mark of the second half. Gustavus came within 10 (43-33) following a three-point play by Dysthe at 11:37, but the Royals answered with a back-to-back three pointers by Lexi Friesen and Shanni Moorse, respectively, to go up 49-33 with 10:18 on the clock. Bethel held on to a comfortable double-digit lead for the remaining minutes of the game.
Gustavus finished 21-for-62 (33.9%) from the field, 3-for-9 (33.3%) from three-point range, and 5-for-8 (62.5%) at the free throw line.
Britta Rinke scored a team-high 17 points on 7-for-19 shooting from the floor. She was followed by Dysthe who scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Karina Schroeder (So., Lake Crystal, Minn.) led all rebounders with 11 boards, seven of which were offensive.
Bethel’s offense was led by Rachel Parupsky and Kallie Zimmermann who went for 17 and 13 points, respectively. Parupsky was 7-for-19 from the field, while Zimmermann went 2-for-5 from the floor and 9-for-10 at the charity stripe. Both players were strong on the glass and finished with seven rebounds each.
As a team, Bethel went 21-for-61 (34.4%) from the field, 6-for-14 (42.9%) from three, and 16-for-20 (80%) at the line. The Royals finished with 20 offensive rebounds for a total rebounding advantage of 48-to-36.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will look to cap the current three-game week on a high note Saturday, Jan. 11 when it hosts Carleton at 1:00 p.m. on Gus Young Court.