First-year Justine Lee tallied 11 points and six rebounds to help spark a Gustavus victory Tuesday night. (Photo courtesy of Roisen Granlund '17)
Gustavus 69, UW-La Crosse 61 (Box)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s basketball team extended its win streak to four on Tuesday, when it earned a 69-61 non-conference victory over the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Gus Young Court. The win pushes the Gusties to 7-2 heading into the holiday break, while UW-La Crosse falls to 4-5.
“We feel really good about the win,” said Coach Laurie Kelly. “We knew again that it would be a very physical game, especially with UW-La Crosse coming out of the WIAC … it seems as though all of those teams are very strong and physical. It was great to have such balanced scoring, especially in the first half, and each of our kids was crashing the boards hard as well, and had at least one rebound.”
The Eagles held a slim lead for much of the first quarter, but a steal and layup for first-year Brooke Lemke (Delano, Minn.), and a three-pointer from fellow rookie Taylor Anderson (Rogers, Minn.) gave the Gusties a tie and lead with 1:53 to play in the first quarter and the home squad would never trail again. Then, with the score tied at 20-20 at the 8:19 mark in the second quarter, Gustavus went on a 9-0 scoring run and eventually went into halftime with a 10-point, 40-30 advantage.
“We did a nice job of getting some easy looks in transition and that was a large reason we had four players in double digit scoring,” said Kelly. “We were able to get inside-outside looks that really helped as well. Justine Lee and Steph Klockmann each had nice offensive games for us, and I thought our posts in general did a nice job of commanding attention. Defensively, I thought we were much better again as well. Holding them to 35 percent shooting is a nice accomplishment, and I thought Hannah especially played well and proved it with her seven steals.”
In the third quarter, Gustavus was able to maintain its advantage, widening the lead to 13 at one point, but eventually seeing it dip to nine going into the final 10 minutes of play. In the fourth quarter, the Gusties took a 12-point advantage with 7:08 to play on a Miranda Rice (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) layup, but the Eagles would go on a 11-2 run over the next 5:05 to cut the Gustie lead to 62-59 with 1:51 to play. However, solid free-throw shooting down the stretch again, including three apiece from Rice and Mikayla Miller (So., Goodhue, Minn.), contributed to Gustavus being able to come away with a victory, and when the final horn sounded, it had secured a 69-61 win.
“We made some key plays down the stretch that kept us in it,” said Kelly. “This is a demanding academic time for our kids, so for them to buckle down and pull out a win is great and I’m very proud of our entire team. It’s something they should feel good about and now we need to turn around, focus on academics for this next week, and then prepare for a great trip to Puerto Rico.”
Miller led the Gusties in scoring with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting, while Justine Lee (Fy., Dawson, Minn.), Steph Klockmann (So., Brownton, Minn.), and Hannah Howard (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) were all in double figures as well, with 11, 10, and 10, respectively. Howard also added seven steals, three rebounds, and three assists, while Lee tied for the team lead the team in rebounds with six. As a team, Gustavus out-rebounded UW-La Crosse 38-37, a tally that Kelly said was vital for her team coming out on top.
“I told the team at the beginning of the game that whichever squad won the battle of the boards would win the game,” said Kelly. “We won by one and that’s a testament to our team’s hustle and determination. Going in, we knew that was one of their strengths and along with that, we also did a nice job of getting the ball inside. Between Anna [Lundquist], Miranda [Rice], and Steph [Klockmann], we had 23 shot attepmts, so it was nice to see us utilize our post play a little more as well.”
Gustavus competes next on Monday, December 28 during its winter training trip to Puerto Rico. There, it takes on Ramapo College at 10 a.m. on the 28th and follows that with a noon tipoff on the 29th against Coast Guard Academy.