ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team wraps up the regular season Saturday at St. Catherine as it looks for a series sweep. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Butler Center. The Gusties enter the game 19-5 overall and 13-4 in the MIAC, while the Wildcats are 12-12 overall and 8-9 in the league.
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The Series: Saturday’s game marks the 58th meeting between Gustavus and St. Kate’s on the hardwood with the Gusties holding a 53-4 advantage in the all-time series. The Gusties have won the last 19 meetings, most recently defeating the Wildcats 67-40 on Jan. 20 in St. Peter. The Gusties outscored St. Kate’s in all four quarters, forced 29 turnovers, and limited the Wildcats to 31.7 percent shooting.
After trading a couple points to start the game, Gustavus went on a 13-3 run to end the first quarter and never looked back. The Gusties continued to add to their lead in the second quarter and carried a 35-17 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Gustavus shot 50 percent (14-28) in the first half and held the visitors to 21.7 percent (5-23).
The Black and Gold did not let off the gas in the second half, leading by as much as 30 (66-36) with 3:52 remaining in the game. Gustavus finished the game 51 percent (25-49) shooting from the field, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. The Gusties also shot 12-of-17 from the free throw line. St. Kate’s out-rebounded the Gusties 30-26, but gave up 40 points in the paint.
Miranda Rice led a trio of Gusties in double figure scoring with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Mikayla Miller and Kendall Thompson contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Last time out: 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.
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 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 led the offense with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. Lee followed with 17 points, while Mikayla Miller 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.
Record watch: Mikayla Miller currently has 1,690 career points, which trails program record holder Jess Vadnais (2004-08) by 89 points. Miller is also 11 made field goals away from passing Linn Erickson (1983-87) for most field goals in program history. Her 298 steals are already a program record that continues to grow, and on Wednesday she played her 103rd career game, becoming the 14th player in program history to reach that mark.