St. Peter, Minn. – With less than one second left on the clock in the second half, Lindsey Johnson (So., Edina, Minn.) banked in a desperation basket from beyond the arc to tie the game 58-58 and send the two game into overtime. The Gustavus women’s basketball team was unable to generate any offense in the overtime session, however, and fell 69-62 to Saint Mary’s University on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court.
Following the loss, the Gusties drop to 13-10 overall and 10-10 in conference play, while the Cardinals improve to 21-2 overall and 18-2 in conference play.
The Gusties came into the second half at a two point disadvantage (25-23), but the team came off the break strong and battled back and forth, never trailing the Cardinals by more than five points. There were 12 lead changes in the second half, with the Gusties grabbing hold of the lead seven times in the last 20 minutes of regulation.
After the Gusties tied the game (51-51) with 3:38 left in the second half, the Cardinals once again grabbed hold of the lead and didn’t let go until the very end. With the score stuck at 58-55 in the Cardinals’ favor, Johnson brought the crowd to their feet with less than a second to play when she heaved a prayer at the rim in the midst of a scramble at the top of the three point arc. Johnson’s three-pointer tied the game at 58-58, sending the contest to overtime.
The score remained 58-58 for the first minute of overtime until a layup by Courtney Euerle put the Cardinals up 60-58. Rachelle Blaschko (Sr., Henderson, Minn.) scored her first points of the day with a layup to tie the score at 60-60 with 3:22 to play. Several free throws put Saint Mary’s back on top, until Britta Rinke (Sr., Waconia, Minn.) made a layup to score Gustavus’ final points of the game. The Cardinals made three more free throws before the final buzzer sounded with the score settled at 69-62.
For the sixth consecutive game, Gustavus had three players score in double figures. Leading the scoring charge was Rinke who scored a game-high 23 points. Rinke was 7-for-19 from the field, 2-for-5 from three-point range, and 7-for-8 at the line. Johnson and Karina Schroeder (So., Lake Crystal, Minn.) each scored 15 points. Johnson scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half, shooting 5-for-14 from the field, 3-for-4 from three-point range, and 2-for-3 at the line. Johnson also brought down a team-high eight boards. Schroeder was 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 at the line.
Saint Mary’s also had three players score in double figures. Courtney Euerle scored 22 points (7-10 FG, 8-11 FT), Shelby Auseth scored 17 points (6-15 FG, 3-7 3PT, 2-2 FT), and Darcey Rice scored 10 points (2-6 FG, 2-6 3PT, 4-4 FT).
Gustavus finished the game 21-for-66 (31.8%) from the field, 6-for-16 (37.5%) from three, and 14-for-21 (66.7%) at the line. Saint Mary’s went 20-for-60 (33.3%) from the field, 6-for-22 (27.3%) from three, and 23-for-30 (76.7%) at the line.
Today’s Senior Day game marked the Gusties’ last regular-season home game. The women will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 19th when they travel to St. Paul to face the University of St. Thomas, with the opening tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.