WINONA, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team traveled to Saint Mary’s on Saturday and fell in the contest by a score of 72-70. With the loss the Gusties fall to 10-9 overall and 7-5 in MIAC play while the Cardinals move to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the conference.
After falling behind 8-5 in the opening minutes, the Gusties finished the first quarter strong outscoring the Cardinals 14-8 and taking a 19-16 lead into the second quarter. The Cardinals shot just 1-8 inside the arc in the opening quarter as well as turned the ball over four times but they shot a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc to keep it close. In quarter number two, the teams traded baskets and tied 13-13 over the 10 minute span and the Gusties held a 32-29 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter though is where the Cardinals made their mark. The two teams played even for the first 3 minutes with the Gusties maintaining a three point lead but Saint Mary’s went on a 15-5 run to take the lead. The Cardinals shot 10-of-15 in the quarter and outscored the Gusties 25-15 to take a 54-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Gustavus scored the first six points and trailed the Cardinals by just one. The Gusties kept their offense going scoring 23 points in the quarter but the Cardinals were able to maintain their lead and get baskets when they needed them to hold onto the victory.
Kendall Thompson (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) led all scorers in the contest with 19 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. Justine Lee (Sr., Dawson, Minn.), Ava Gonsorowski (So., Esko, Minn.), and Paige Richert (So., Comfrey, Minn.) were also all in double figures with Lee scoring 17 on 6-of-12 shooting.
As a team the Gusties shot 28-of-58 (48.3 percent) in the contest while the Cardinals were 24-for-50 (48.0 percent). Three-point shooting was a huge factor in the game with Saint Mary’s going 8-of-14 while Gustavus was 2-for-8.
The Gusties will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to Hamline for a 7 p.m. contest.