SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team is set to take on UW-La Crosse Thursday night in a non-conference matchup. Tipoff between the Gusties (3-2) and Eagles (6-0) is 7 p.m.
THE SERIES
Tonight’s game marks the fourth meeting between the Gustavus and UW-La Crosse women’s basketball programs with the Gusties leading the series 3-0. Last season Gustavus defeated the Eagles 67-59 in its home opener. The Gusties held a slim three-point lead with 1:16 remaining in the game, but held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the way.
Gustavus shot 40.3 percent (25-62) from the floor, while allowing UW-La Crosse to shoot 46.2 percent (24-52). The Eagles also out-rebounded the Gusties 38-35, but one key difference was 17 turnovers committed by the visitors, which Gustavus scored 27 points off of.
Four Gusties reached double figure points, led by Miranda Rice with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor. Taylor Anderson finished with 16 points on five three-pointers and a free throw, while Kendall Thompson added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Justine Lee contributed 11 points.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gustavus women’s basketball team lost a non-conference game at Luther 71-64 on Saturday afternoon. The loss snaps a three-game win streak as the Gusties drop to 3-2 overall.
Gustavus was limited to 32.8 percent shooting from the floor (20-61) and was unable to crawl out of a 12-point hole at halftime.
The Gusties scored the first two points of the game but that would be their only lead as the Norse went on an 18-1 run over the next six minutes. Luther led 37-25 at halftime and increased its lead to as much as 17 points (51-34) with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Gustavus would not go quietly though, answering with a 15-3 run to bring the score to 54-49 with a minute left in the quarter.
The visitors continued to battle back and made it a one-point game (62-61) on a three-pointer by Alison Hinck (So., White Bear Lake, Minn.) with 3:11 left in the game, but the Norse responded with five straight points and were able to hold on to the lead for the win.
Kendall Thompson (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the Gusties with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Ava Gonsorowski (So., Esko, Minn.) and Justine Lee (Sr., Dawson, Minn.) also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
UW-La Crosse has started its season undefeated in six games, most recently defeating Augsburg 65-44 on Sunday. Emma Gamoke is the team’s offensive leader, averaging 14.7 points per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field. Dani Craig is next with 12.8 points per game and a team-best 53.1 percent rate from three-point range. Delaney Schoenenberger also averages double figures with 10.7 points per game and leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game. As a team, the Eagles allow just 45.7 points per game and own a +6.5 rebound margin.