Mikayla Miller led Gustavus with 24 points.
MOORHEAD, Minn. – The No. 19/22 ranked Gustavus women’s basketball team trailed at halftime before posting a 22-11 run to start the second half, leading to a 61-59 victory over Concordia College Wednesday evening to remain undefeated with an 18-0 overall, 11-0 MIAC record.
Gustavus began the game with two-straight three pointers from Mikayla Miller (Jr., Goodhue, Minn.) and held a 10-9 lead around four minutes into the first quarter. From then on, the Cobbers took advantage and held the lead for the remainder of the following 20 minutes of play.
Concordia outscored the Gusties 19-12 in the first 10 minutes and held a 33-26 lead going into halftime. However, a strong pushback by Gustavus to begin the second half allowed the Gusties to regain the lead after a 22-11 run in the third quarter.
“We feel very fortunate to leave with a win today,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “It’s always hard really hard to come up to Concordia. It is a long bus trip and their facility is different, the way the floor is laid out with a lot of empty space behind it so it makes it difficult to shoot.”
In the first half, the road team shot 38.1 percent from the field before improving to a mark of 61.1 percent in the second half, shooting 11-for-18 from the field.
Miller led the Black and Gold with 24 points, going 8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Miranda Rice (Jr., Forest Lake, Minn.) was also in double figures with 12 points, going 5-for-7 from the field.
In the final 10 minutes, the Cobbers fought back to cut the Gustavus lead to just two with under a minute remaining but the Gusties would hold on for the win.
“I thought they [Concordia] played really well,” commented Kelly. “For us, we feel fortunate to not play the way we think we should be able to play and still leave with a win. The free throws we missed down the stretch were critical and those are mistakes that we typically don’t make.”
The two-point victory for Gustavus marks the first time this season in which a Gustie win has been decided by three or less. Gustavus outrebounded Concordia 42-23 despite being outscored by the Cobbers in points in the paint and points off turnovers.
“We need to just enjoy the win and get ready for our game on Saturday and get back to playing Gustavus basketball,” Kelly concluded.
The Gusties return to Gus Young Court Saturday afternoon, hosting Saint Mary’s University at 1 p.m. Gustavus previously defeated the Cardinals by a score of 49-45 in December.