ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 20 Gustavus women’s basketball team cruised to a 65-38 victory over Saint Mary’s on Wednesday, improving to 12-2 overall and 6-1 in the MIAC. The Gusties limited the Cardinals to 31 percent shooting and held the second leading scorer in the league to nine points.
“Defensively it was a great game,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “To hold one of the top scorers in the league to nine points was good for us. When you play that well defensively, it takes a lot of pressure off your offense. Some of our more experienced players were in foul trouble early so we had to play people quite a few minutes.”
Kendall Thompson (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) started the game with consecutive three-pointers and the Gusties never trailed. The home team led 17-7 after the first quarter and carried a 35-15 advantage into halftime after shooting nearly 52 percent in the first 20 minutes. The Black and Gold defense held the Cardinals to 22 percent (6-27) shooting in the first half.
Saint Mary’s slightly cut into the lead in the third quarter, but the closest it would get was 16 points as the Gusties padded their lead in the final frame for the 27-point decision.
Three Gusties reached double figures, led by Thompson’s 15 points. Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Mikayla Miller (Sr., Goodhue, Minn.) added 12 points apiece. As a team, the Gusties shot 44 percent from the floor with a good chunk of their scoring from close range as they outscored the Cardinals 38-22 in the paint.
“We just need to keep getting better every game,” Kelly said. “We’re going to have a challenge on Saturday on the road. We got kind of stale offensively tonight and struggled to get high percentage shots so that’s what we need to work on.”
Gustavus travels to Bethel on Saturday. Tipoff in Arden Hills, Minn. is set for 3 p.m. after the men’s game.