NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team got back to its winning ways Saturday, defeating St. Olaf 77-47. The win moves the Gusties to 15-4 overall and 9-3 in the MIAC, while the Oles drop to 3-16 overall and 1-11 in the league.
“We shot the ball really well and made a lot of easy shots on the back side of their press,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “It was nice to shoot 40 percent from three today. They gave us open threes by packing it in down low and we took advantage.”
Gustavus shot 10-for-25 from three-point range and was 45.6 percent from the field. The Gusties also forced 32 turnovers and scored 34 points off the takeaway.
The game started with a 3-0 Gustavus lead and the Oles were never able to make a comeback. The Gusties led 21-12 after the first quarter and increased that lead to 38-21 at halftime. The largest lead of the game was 61-26 with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Mikayla Miller (Sr., Goodhue, Minn.) led all scorers with 19 points on 50 percent shooting. Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) contributed eight points, five assists, and five steals. The Gusties out-rebounded the Oles 26-19 and limited to home team to 33 shots.
Gustavus returns home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Carleton.
“Our goal is to win out and we know we need to do that in order to get the number two seed and get the first round bye in the conference tournament,” Kelly said. “That’s what we have our eyes set on but we need to take it one game at a time.”