(Photo courtesy of Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 23 Gustavus women’s basketball team had four players with 13-plus points as they defeated Macalester 82-65 Saturday afternoon. With the win the Gusties improve to 14-3 overall and 10-2 in the MIAC, while the Scots fall to 1-16 overall and 4-11 in the conference.
“I’m happy we went out and got a tough road win,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “We missed Caitlin to injury and Ava got in foul trouble so people had to step up and Macalester battled us. We had four players in double figures which was good to see as we had both interior and perimeter scoring. Any road win in the MIAC is a good win and we’re excited to get back home this week.”
Macalester came out of the gates strong, getting out to a 14-11 lead a little over halfway through the first quarter. The Gusties would bounce back the last 3:49 in the frame, getting a pair of three-pointers from Maddy Rice (Fy., Forest Lake) as well as two points apiece from Ava Gonsorowski (Jr., Esko) and Paige Richert (Jr., Comfrey) against just three Scot points to take a 21-17 advantage to the second quarter. Gustavus would slowly build on their lead in the second quarter, but Macalester would hang around, as the Gusties carried a 37-29 lead into the half.
After the teams played to a 41-33 score early in the third quarter, the Gusties would score eight straight with six points coming from Richert to take a 16 point lead. The Scots would battle back, going on a 14-4 run of their own to trim the Gustie lead down to six with 3:18 remaining in the third frame, but that’s all the closer they would get the rest of the way. The Black and Gold would build their lead to 62-52 going into the final quarter and they would hold a double-digit lead the rest of the way, as they defeated the Scots 82-65.
Gonsorowski led all scorers with 21 points, while Marisa Gustafson (Jr., Mahtomedi) added 18. Richert and Rice both also put up double figures with 16 and 13, respectively.
The Gusties are next in action when they host Saint Benedict’s for a 7 p.m. contest