ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 12-ranked Gustavus women’s basketball team wraps up a three-game week at 3 p.m. Saturday, hosting St. Olaf in the MIAC opener. The Gusties are 4-0 to start the season, while the Oles are 2-5.
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- The voice of the Golden Gusties, Tom Wheeler, will call the game on AM 860 KNUJ
The Series: Saturday’s game marks the 76th meeting between Gustavus and St. Olaf with the Gusties holding a 51-24 lead in the all-time series. The two teams last faced each other on Feb. 8 as the Gusties claimed a convincing 81-47 win in Northfield, Minn. Kelsey Carpenter scored a career-high 31 points with a record-tying eight three pointers. The eight three-point field goals tied Melissa Young’s record set in 1992.
The Gusties saw good point production from their reserves as they outscored the Oles 46-8 in bench points. Nine Gusties found their way into the scoring column with Carpenter, Mikayla Miller and Miranda Rice each posting double-digit point performances. Miller and Rice both tallied 10 points. Another record-setting performance came from Miller as she picked up two steals to pass Jess Vadnais (2004-08) on the program’s all-time steals list. Miller moved to No. 1 with 224 career steals in her third season as a Gustie.
In The Polls: D3hoops.com ranked Gustavus No. 16 in its preseason Top 25 poll and after starting the season 3-0 the Gusties moved up four spots to No. 12 in the Nov. 26 poll. MIAC foe St. Thomas is one spot ahead of the Gusties at No. 11, while Tufts holds on to the No. 1 ranking.
Scouting the Oles: St. Olaf is off to a tough start to its 2017-18 campaign with just two wins in seven games. The Oles most recently lost 81-55 to UW-Stout on Tuesday. Their most recent victory was a 58-50 decision over Crown College last Saturday. Through seven games Makenna Ash is the team’s leading scorer with 12.9 points per game and shooting 47.4 percent from the field. Ash also leads the team on the board with 9.0 rebounds per game. Ella Skrien is next in line on the offensive side of the floor with 8.4 points per game.
15-year Anniversary: Gustavus is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the 2002-03 MIAC championship team, which marked the first conference championship in program history. Please click this PDF link for more information on the 2002-03 season.