ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – A rough first quarter put the Gustavus women’s basketball team in a 13-point hole, one it was not able to climb out of in a 66-62 loss Wednesday at Saint Benedict. The Gusties outscored the Blazers in the final three quarters but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback as they fell to 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the MIAC, while the Blazers improve to 22-2 overall and 16-1 in the league.
“We didn’t come out ready on defense tonight, which unfortunately has been our M.O. at times this season,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “It was a tough first 10 minutes, but we did some great things down the stretch. I felt we beat ourselves so now the focus is on Saturday.”
Saint Ben’s stormed out of the gates with an 11-2 lead in the first 3:33 of the game. The Blazers increased their lead to 34-18, the largest of the night, with 3:45 remaining in the first half and carried a 38-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Gusties struggled from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, making just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The Blazers held a double-digit lead for the first four minutes of the third quarter before Justine Lee (Jr., Dawson, Minn.) made a trey and a jumper to make it 45-41 with 3:26 left in the frame. The home team countered with an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter to lead 62-49 with 4:08 left in the game. Gustavus had an answer down the stretch as it went on a 13-2 run to make the score 64-62 with 34 seconds on the clock. Saint Ben’s made one-of-two free throws on the ensuing possession to take a three-point lead, but the Gusties were unable to counter on their next trip down the court and were forced to foul. The Blazers went 1-for-2 again at the charity stripe to lead by four points with eight seconds remaining and the Gusties simply ran out of time.
Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) led the offense with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. Lee followed with 17 points, while Mikayla Miller (Sr., Goodhue, Minn.) added 12 points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Black and Gold shot 40 percent from the field and 25 percent (5-20) from three-point range. Saint Ben’s won the offensive battle down low, outscoring the Gusties 36-26 in the paint.
Gustavus closes out the regular season 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Catherine. The Gusties defeated the Wildcats 67-40 on Jan. 20 in St. Peter.