St. Paul – Sophomore Karina Schroeder (Lake Crystal, Minn.) stole the show for the Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team again, leading the Gusties to a 75-52 victory over Hamline University on Wednesday night at Hutton Arena. Schroeder scored a game-high 25 points and picked up her second straight double-double with 16 rebounds. With the win, Gustavus improves to 8-7 overall and 5-7 in the MIAC, while Hamline drops to 2-12 overall and 1-10 in the MIAC.
“A really good game and a nice win for us tonight,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly following Gustavus’s second consecutive league win. “We played 40 minutes of very good basketball and I’m proud of the way we went out and took care of business on the road. We dominated from the tip and that is what this team needed to do at this stage of the season.”
The two teams battled back-and-forth early in the first half. At the 16:45 mark, the Pipers took the lead and held on it until the halfway mark of the first half. A three-pointer by Julia Dysthe (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) put the Gusties back on top 16-15 with 9:59 on the clock, and from there they never looked back. Gustavus outscored Hamline 11-5 in the final seven minutes and surged to a 31-20 lead at the break.
Returning to typical form, Dysthe had a strong night with 13 total points, ten of which came in the first half. Dysthe was perfect from beyond the arc (3-for-3) and from the charity stripe (2-for-2), while going 4-for-7 from the floor.
It was all Gustavus in the second half, as the Gusties cruised to the 23-point victory. Hamline worked throughout the second half to ease their deficit, but Gustavus went on a 25-0 run during the last six minutes of the game to earn the win. A layup by Brooke Degelau with just under :30 seconds remaining cut the Gusties’ lead to 23 and brought the score to a final.
Schroeder’s 25 points paved the way for the Gusties’ win, as she went 9-for-13 from the floor and 7-for-13 from the free throw line. Schroeder added her second-highest rebounding total of the season, ending up with 16 boards (12 defensive) to acheive her sixth double-double of the year.
“Katrina was really big for us once again tonight,” commented Kelly about her post. “They really couldn’t handle her on the inside and we were able to get her going with some good looks early on.”
Hamline’s Chloe Graves and Jordan Sammons had big nights for the Pipers, with both women finishing in double-figures. Graves scored 13 points, going 5-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Sammons recorded a double-double after combining a team-high 19 points with ten boards (eight defensive). Sammons was 7-for-21 from the floor, 1-for-8 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Gustavus finished the game 24-for-58 (41.4%) from the field, 4-for-7 (57.1%) from three, and 23-for-36 (63.9%) at the line. Hamline went 19-for-60 (31.7%) from the field, 8-for-25 (32.0%) from three, and 6-for-10 (60.0%) at the line.
The Gusties won the turnover battler 13-19 and outrebounded the Pipers 44-38. Led by Morgan Iverson (Fy., Waconia, Minn.) with nine points (4-8 FG) and Hannah Howard (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) with eight points (2-6 FG, 4-6 FT), Gustavus also benefited from a 22 point night from its bench. Rachelle Blaschko (Sr., Henderson, Minn.) led all players in assists with seven – her second-best mark of the season.
“Rachelle handled the ball very well against their press and had seven assists with only two turnovers. As a team, I thought we took care of the ball – finishing with only 13 turnovers in the game,” Kelly stated.
The Gusties will be back in action at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25th, when they head to Moorhead, Minn. to take on the Cobbers.
“We had confidence the whole game. Even when Hamline went on runs, we remained composed,” concluded Kelly about her team’s poise. “We controlled the tempo and didn’t get into the type of run-and-gun game that Hamline likes. This is a big confidence boost as we head back on the road Saturday for a game at Concordia.”