SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team Wednesday took an early lead against Concordia in the MIAC playoff quarterfinals and never looked back in a 53-41 victory. The Gusties, now 20-4 overall, will host Bethel in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday. This is the sixth consecutive MIAC semifinal appearance for the Gusties.
Gustavus opened the game with the first made bucket and led wire-to-wire. The Gusties led 17-12 after the first quarter and finished the second quarter with 10 answered points for a 35-24 halftime advantage. The Gusties increased their lead to 20 at the end of the third quarter and led by as much as 23 in the fourth. The Cobbers scored the final 11 points of the game but it was too little, too late for a comeback.
Emma Kniefel (So., Medford) led the way with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including a pair of threes. She also had a team-high four assists. Grace Benz (Sr., Steele, N.D.) led the team on the board with seven rebounds, four coming on the offensive end.
The Gusties outshot the Cobbers 37.3-30.8 percent and had a strong advantage in rebounds at 44-27.