ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team defeated Martin Luther College by a score of 82-50 in the season opener Tuesday evening at Gus Young Court. The win marks the fourth consecutive season opening victory.
Forward Miranda Rice (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) established strong post play as she recorded a career-high 26 points to lead the Gusties. Her eight rebounds were also the most of any Gustie.
“I thought Miranda had a great game,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “It was great to see her have such a great inside presence.”
The Gusties scored 48 points in the paint to control post play. The Knights totaled 22 while allowing Gustavus to score 37 points off turnovers. Gustavus then capitalized on the turnovers, leading Martin Luther in fast break points, 8-0. The Black and Gold was also quick to pressure the Knights offense and posted 20 steals in the game. Mikayla Miller (Jr., Goodhue, Minn.) added seven steals alone and distributed the ball well, tallying nine assists.
Gustavus jumped out to a strong start, leading 14-3 just six minutes in and didn’t look back. They led by a score of 17-12 after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter the Gusties kept the momentum rolling and eventually established a 30-point lead as the score read 44-14 near the end of the half. The Gusties went into halftime leading 44-16, shooting 44.4 percent from the field while also nailing three three-pointers. Miranda Rice led Gustavus in the half with 11 points while Justine Lee (So., Dawson, Minn.) notched 10 points as she went 2-3 from beyond the arc.
“I think we did some really good things,” Kelly commented. “There are some things we definitely need to focus on to improve. Early in the season, it’s a great opportunity to try to get some people some experience. I thought the start of the game was very strong for us, defensively in particular. I thought we kind of went into a lull to end the first quarter, and then we came out really strong in the second quarter.”
Rice gave the Gusties their largest lead of the night of 34 points, 52-18, while knocking down a jumper two minutes into the second half. Gustavus reached a 34-point lead once again in the third quarter when Rice put in one of many layups.
Gustavus duplicated its shooting from the field from the first half, shooting 16-36 and 44.4 percent in the second half. They also shot 33.3 percent from three-point range, leading the Knights who shot 37 percent from the field.
“This is two and a half months in the making before you finally tip off and it means something in the record book,” Kelly mentioned. “Every opportunity you have to be on the floor and get better and work on things is really good. I’m proud of the win and some things that we did. We have something now to start with and we have a chance to see where we’re at again getting ready for Friday’s game.”
The Gusties return to Gus Young Court to host the Gustavus classic this weekend, taking on the College of St. Scholastica Friday night and Viterbo University Saturday afternoon.