ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 12-ranked Gustavus women’s basketball team defeated Hamline University 82-50 Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court to remain unbeaten, while Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) reached the 1,000-point plateau in her career.
The Gusties, now 7-0 overall and 3-0 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, shot 31-for-60 from the field and outscored the Pipers 40-20 in the paint.
Miranda Rice led the Gustavus offense with 19 points, shooting 8-13 from the field, exceeding 1,000 career points and becoming the 12th Gustie women’s basketball player to do so.
“Miranda is doing really well for us, it was great to see her get her 1,000th point today,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly commented.
Mikayla Miller (Sr., Goodhue, Minn.), who made the 1K club last season, totaled double-digit scoring numbers for the fifth consecutive game, notching 14 points to pass Linn Erickson (1983-87) for fourth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,408 career points.
Additionally, Taylor Anderson (Jr., Rogers, Minn.) totaled 11 points, while Justine Lee (Jr., Dawson, Minn.) notched a season-high five steals and Brooke Lemke (Jr., Delano, Minn.) registered a season-high five assists.
The Gusties forced 31 Hamline turnovers, with 33 points coming off those Piper mistakes. After the visitors converted on the first bucket of the game, it was all Black and Gold from then on. Gustavus jumped out to a 22-11 lead after the first quarter and held a 43-18 lead at halftime.
A layup from Miller gave the home team its largest advantage of the game, as the Gusties led by 42 points at 74-32 with 6:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I’m really happy with what we did defensively, for sure,” said Kelly. “The fourth quarter, we had a 40-point lead and it was a great chance to get some of our bench players in. Our schedule has been a favor for us early with a huge home stretch. One game at a time, we are getting better.”
Gustavus returns to action on Wednesday, hosting the No. 11-ranked University of St. Thomas.