ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 22/25-ranked Gustavus women’s basketball team broke triple digits in defeating Macalester College Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court, improving its program record win streak to 17 games and moving its record to 17-0 overall and 10-0 in MIAC play.
The Gusties set a season-high with 103 points and tied a season-high with 38 field goals made, going 38-for-67 from the field (56.7%). From three-point range, Gustavus shot a season-best 71.4 percent mark, going 10-for-14 from beyond the arc.
Four Gusties tallied double-digit points with Miranda Rice (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) leading the way with 26 points. Along with Rice, Mikayla Miller (Jr., Goodhue, Minn.) added 17, Hannah Howard (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) totaled 16, and Justine Lee (So., Dawson, Minn.) compiled 14 as she was a perfect 6-6 from the field and 2-2 from three-point range.
“Offensively we shot the ball really well,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “I thought we got good looks and really good balanced scoring. It was great to have Miranda Rice really dominate inside, which opened up opportunities for some of our shooters.”
Down low, Gustavus outplayed Macalester as it outscored the Scots in points in the paint by a mark of 54-28. The Gusties also capitalized on Macalester mistakes, outscoring the Scots in points off turnovers, 36-11.
In the first half, the home team was efficient from the field, shooting at a 64.7 percent mark. The Gusties took a 60-42 lead into halftime and didn’t look back during the final twenty minutes. Gustavus outscored Macalester 27-14 in the third quarter to jump out to a 30-point lead, eventually claiming its largest lead of the game near the four-minute mark of the final frame when a three-pointer by Kendall Thompson (So., Eden Prairie, Minn.) gave the Gusties a 36-point lead at 101-65.
“When you do the little things well, you’re going to win a lot of games,” commented Kelly. “Little things right now is what we’re going to focus on going into Monday. We’re happy with the win and we’ll roll up our sleeves and try to focus on some things we want to work on next week.”
Next week the Black and Gold is back on the road. They travel to Moorhead, Minn. Wednesday evening with a matchup against Concordia College. Tip off is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium.