Moorhead, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team could not dig its way out of a deep first half hole in a 72-59 defeat against Concordia College on Wednesday night at Memorial Auditorium. Despite a much-improved second half, Gustavus could not recover from a slow start and 39-19 halftime deficit in what was its last road game of the 2014-15 regular season. The Gusties drop to 15-7 overall and 9-6 in the MIAC, while Concordia improves to 13-9 overall and 9-6 in the MIAC.
In what was a slow start to the game for both clubs, Concordia began to find its rhythm with a 9-8 lead at the 11:16 mark. Over a five-minute time-span, the Cobbers scored 19 unanswered points to go up 28-8 with 6:08 on the clock. Gustavus couldn’t recover from the dryspell, as the Concordia lead hovered around 20 points for the remaining minutes of the half.
The Gusties shot just 25-percent compared to Concordia at 46.4-percent in the opening 20 minutes. Cobber Greta Walsh had the hot hand with 13 first half points after knocking down 3-of-5 three-pointers.
Gustavus outscored the Cobbers 40-33 and shot 43.3-percent in the second half. Despite the improved offensive effort, the Gusties were only able to come as close at 14 points (54-40) at the 11:19 mark. Concordia put an end to any comeback hopes with a 9-2 run that pushed the gap back up to 21 points (63-42) with 7:57 on the clock. The Gusties scored eight unanswered points in the final 3:15 to bring the score to a final at 72-59.
After a 61.9-percent second half shooting performance, Concordia finished the game 53.1-percent (26-49) from the field. The Cobbers also shot 42.1-percent (8-19) from three, and 80-percent (12-15) at the line.
Gustavus finished the game 19-for-54 (35.2%) from the floor, 3-for-9 (33.3%) from three, and 18-for-23 (78.3%) at the line.
Leading the Gustie offense was Mikayla Miller (Fy., Goodhue, Minn.) who scored 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Lindsey Johnson (Jr., Edina, Minn.) finished next in line with 13 points (4-11 FG, 5-5 FT), and Stephanie Klockmann (Fy., Brownton, Minn.) also reached double-digits off the bench with 11 (5-7 FG).
Leading all scorers were Alley Fisher and Erin Januschka with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Gustavus committed 12 turnovers compared to Concordia’s 18, yet lost the battle on the boards 38-25, which included a 27-14 Cobber advantage on the defensive glass.
The Gustie women’s basketball team will look to get back on track Saturday when it begins a three-game homestand with a 1:00 p.m. game against Saint Mary’s University.