Kendall Thompson goes up for a layup against UM-Morris. (photo courtesy of David Faulkner, SPX Sports)
SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team cruised to a 75-51 victory over UM-Morris on Friday night in its home opener, improving to 1-1 early in the season.
Gustavus limited UM-Morris to 36 percent shooting from the field and won the rebound battle 37-28, which proved to be the difference.
“You learn a lot about yourself after the first loss of the season,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “We have a lot of young kids but I thought that our leadership was great tonight. The intensity and focus in practice this week has been really good. Overall, I thought our inside play with Paige Richert (So., Comfrey, Minn.) and Kendall Thompson (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) was big tonight. It was nice to see our defense keep their field goal percentage down. It was also fun to see a lot of people get their first career points tonight.”
Thompson led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. She also contributed five rebounds and three steals. Richert posted 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including a game-high six rebounds. Eleven different Gusties scored points.
After a back-and-forth start to the game, Gustavus erased a 10-9 deficit with a 19-2 run at the end of the first quarter and into the second. The Gusties led 38-22 at halftime and were able to get a majority of their reserve players into the game in the second half.
Gustavus returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday, playing host to Martin Luther.