Gustavus 74, St. Catherine 59 (Box) | Photo Gallery
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s basketball team earned a victory over St. Catherine University 74-59 Wednesday night at Gus Young Court. The game was back and forth in the beginning, but midway through the second quarter, the Gusties took charge defensively and were able to hold the lead for the remainder of the game. The win puts the Gusties at 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
During the first quarter, the Gusties and Wildcats battled it out and were tied 4-4 at the 7:06 mark. From that point, St. Catherine took control with a seven-point advantage over the Gusties, closing out the first quarter with a 26-19 lead.
“St. Kate’s established themselves in the first quarter and I thought we responded well, got into the game, and started playing Gustie basketball,” said Coach Laurie Kelly. “We played great defense over the last three quarters. To give up 26 points in the first quarter and 33 in the last three, that was really the difference in the game. It was a great ying and yang for us, our defense triggered some great offense, and our offensive scoring gave us some energy and pop in our step.”
The Black and Gold made a strong comeback during the second quarter, pulling ahead at the 2:30 mark with six unanswered points. The Gustie charge was fueled by post play from Miranda Rice (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Stephanie Klockmann (So., Brownton, Minn.). Rice tallied seven points during the second, while Klockmann notched six. St. Catherine didn’t back down though, and managed to narrow Gustavus’ lead to one (38-37) at the 1:30 mark, but Gustavus was able to maintain a 41-37 advantage going into halftime.
The Gusties continued their streak going into the third quarter, taking their largest lead of the game of 15 points (61-46) at the 1:43 mark. Rice continued to shine, scoring an additional eight points during the third. Justine Lee (Fy., Dawson, Minn.) also played an important role, notching five points in the third and shot a perfect 5-of-5, including 3-for-3 from downtown over the course of the game. Going into the final quarter, the Gusties led 61-49 and held their momentum into the final minutes of the game to pull out a 15-point win over the Wildcats 74-59.
Gustavus shot an even 50 percent from the floor, got 33 points from the bench, and 11 points off Wildcat turnovers.
The game also marked a season high point total for Rice, who scored 21 points as well as Lee who tallied 13. Rice also tallied 11 rebounds giving her a double-double. She had a previous season high of 13 on Nov. 20, 2015 against UW-Stout, while Lee’s previous season high was 12, on Dec. 28, 2015 against Ramapo College.
“Having young players like Justine Lee make some big shots gave the team confidence early on, which then extended onto our defense,” said Kelly. “St. Catherine is a scary team. They were the first team to beat St. Thomas and stuck with Saint Mary’s, so we knew coming in they were going to be dangerous and feel great to have pulled out the win.”
LaShay Holt and Shauna Horsch led St. Catherine with 15 and 14 points, respectively. The Wildcats shot 51.9 percent in the first half, compared to 18.8 percent in the second.
The Gusties continue conference play on Saturday when they travel to Carleton College for a 3 p.m. game.