MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Gustavus women’s basketball team made the trip to Moorhead Saturday afternoon, and fell to the league-leading undefeated Cobbers, suffering its first loss of the season. The Gusties move to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
Both teams battled through the first few points of the game, until Concordia pulled away at 10-15 for an 11-point run, before ending the first quarter 24-12. For the first time all season, the Gusties found themselves trailing their opponent at the half, as they headed to the locker room down 37-23.
“We’re disappointed in the result. The difference was really made in the first quarter,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “We came out flat and had to continuously battle from behind.”
The Cobbers held the lead at 15 through the third, but the Gusties slowly began to cut the deficit in the fourth quarter. A scoring run of 10 would bring them within one at 50-49. From there, it was a back and forth battle, but the Cobbers never relinquished their lead, topping the Gusties by one at 64-63.
“We did a great job down the stretch showing a lot of Gustie pride. We battled back one possession at a time to put us in a position to win the game, unfortunately, we just didn’t make enough of the shots — particularly from the free throw line — to push us over the hump. Concordia is an experienced team with great senior leadership and a really tough place to play.”
Emma Kniefel (Jr., Medford) led the Gustie offense, posting 13 points, two rebounds, and two steals. Rachel Kawiecki (So., Richfield) and Anna Sanders (Sr., Vadnais Heights) both shared second in points, posting 10 each, with Sanders posting a team-high nine rebounds.
“We have a lot to learn from, and we have to put ourselves in a better situation in the future. We can’t go on the road in the MIAC and start slow hoping to battle back. Concordia was really good for the first 10 minutes, and they put us in a position to have to chase them. We learned a lot today and will shift our focus to the next one.”
The Gusties are off for a week until they host Macalester at 4 p.m. on Dec. 3.