St. Paul – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team was not able to withstand a late University of St. Thomas surge in the quarterfinals of the MIAC Playoffs on Tuesday night at Schoenecker Arena. With the score tied at 46-46 with 5:33 left in the game, St. Thomas allowed Gustavus just two field goals and outscored the Gusties 20-5 over the remaining minutes to come away with a 66-51 victory.
“It’s a tough loss and I’m sad to see these three great seniors go, but I’m very pleased with how we came out and battled from start to finish,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “Our players were ready from the start, they made the right adjustments, and were playing with a lot of confidence and energy from the get-go. A lot of the things that we needed to go right did, but we got tired towards the end and weren’t able to make shots down stretch. All the little details and small plays seemed to go their way and that turned out to be the difference.”
Gustavus finishes its 2013-14 campaign with an overall record of 14-12, while St. Thomas improves to 22-4 and will travel to Moorhead to face Concordia in the MIAC Semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 27.
The Gusties jumped out to a fast start and took a six point lead (15-9) by at the 12:33 mark when Lindsey Johnson (So., Edina, Minn.) converted a layup. Gustavus’s largest lead of the half was six points, which the Gusties went up by four more times before the halftime buzzer.
After Hannah Howard (Fy., St. Paul, Minn. ) put Gustavus up 26-22 with :18 seconds left in the half, St. Thomas’s Jenna Dockter scored to cut the lead to 26-24 at the halftime break.
The Gusties shot 36-percent from the field in the first half, while St. Thomas shot 33.3-percent. Britta Rinke (Sr., Waconia, Minn.) led all scorers in the frame with eight points.
There were six lead changes in the second half before St. Thomas took the advantage at the 4:50 mark for the final time of the night. Gustavus went 2-for-6 from the floor and turned the ball over four times in the final five minutes of the game.
Free throws accounted for the scoring difference in the second half, as St. Thomas went a perfect 16-for-16 at the charity stripe. The Tommies finished the game 24-for-26 (92.3%) at the line.
Katie Stone led the Tommies with 18 second half points, going 6-for-7 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range. She finished with a game-high 21 points (7-10 FG, 5-8 3PT). Taylor Young was the team’s next scorer in line, going 4-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 at the line for 15 points.
The Gusties finished with three players in double-figures including Karina Schroeder (So., Lake Crystal, Minn.), Britta Rinke, and Julia Dysthe (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.). Schroeder led the way with 13 points after going 4-for-8 from the field and 5-for-5 at the line. Rinke finished with 12 points on 6-of-16 shooting, and Dysthe scored 12 points on 3-of-17 shooting.
As a team, Gustavus went 19-for-53 (35.8%) from the field, 4-for-14 (30.8%) from three-point range, and 9-for-13 (69.2%) at the line. St. Thomas ended up 18-for-44 (40.9%) from the field and 6-for-14 (42.9%) from three.
Gustavus won the turnover battle 20-18, yet St. Thomas held the rebounding edge 34-31.