Northfield, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team used one its best team defensive efforts and a standout scoring display by Mikayla Miller (Fy., Goodhue, Minn.) to run away with a 62-34 victory over Carleton College on Wednesday night at the West Gym. The Gusties allowed the Knights just ten field goals and limited them to 26.3-percent shooting from the field. Miller scored a season-high 31 points after going 11-for-18 from the field, 2-for-7 from three-point range, and 7-for-8 at the free throw line. With the win, Gustavus snaps its two-game losing-skid and improves to 14-6 overall and 8-5 in the MIAC. Carleton drops to 7-13 overall and 5-8 in the MIAC.
With her 31-point effort this evening, Mikayla Miller moves into a tie for fifth place in single-game scoring at Gustavus alongside 31-point games by Jeri Ree, Linn Erickson on three occasions, and Bri Monahan twice. With 30 points back on Nov. 16 against Minnesota-Morris, Miller becomes the first Gustie to reach 30 in a single game more than once in a season since Monahan did so three times during the 2005-06 campaign.
“It’s nice to see Mikayla Miller get back on track with her offensive performance,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly about Miller’s performance. “She had been struggling from the floor as of late, so for her game to come together like this was fun to watch.”
Gustavus not only forced 28 turnovers, but it recorded a season-low seven of its own. The Gusties limited the Knights to 10-of-38 from the field, 2-of-12 from three, and 12-of-15 at the line.
Coach Kelly said that her team put together a solid 40 minutes of defense, which was an area of concern the past few games. “We executed our game plan very well and played good team basketball throughout the night,” she said. “A lot of that started on defense and that allowed us to get open shots in transition. Our defense that took a lot of pressure off our offense, which was especially important during a game that we simply didn’t shoot that well. We held them to 20 points in the first half and 14 in the second – you can’t ask for a better performance than that.”
After a back-and-forth opening five minutes, Gustavus used a 14-0 run to take a 23-9 lead with 11:22 left in the half. The Gusties didn’t look back from there and eventually built a 38-20 lead by halftime.
Gustavus’s defensive pressure didn’t let up in the second half where it held Carleton to 4-of-22 shooting from the field and forced 15 turnovers. The Knight’s turned the ball over a total of 34 times compared to Gustavus’s seven. The Black and Gold capitalized on those turnovers with 34 points throughout the night.
The Gusties finished the game 24-for-68 (35.3%) from the field, 3-for-19 (15.8%) from three, and 11-for-16 (68.8%) at the line.
Complimenting Miller off the bench was Stephanie Klockmann (Fy., Brownton, Minn.) and Cara Christensen (So., North Mankato, Minn.) who both had eight points. Klockman was 4-for-6, while Christensen went 4-for-12.
“It was good for this team to get back on track with a win like this,” said Kelly. “It helps us feel better about the way we are playing as we head into a stretch where four of our last five games are at home.”
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will be back on the hardwood Saturday, Feb. 7 when it plays host to St. Olaf College at 1:00 p.m. on Gus Young Court.