First year post Abby Rothenbuehler recorded a career high 19 points and added a career high 15 rebounds to lead the Gustavus women’s basketball team to a convincing 80-39 win over Augsburg on Wednesday evening at Gus Young Court in St. Peter. The Gusties, who won their sixth straight game, improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the MIAC.
The Gusties got off to a quick 8-0 start and never looked back on its way to the 41-point victory. Leading 14-6 with 12:04 left in the first half, Gustavus out-scored the Auggies 22-6 the rest of the half and led by by 22 points 36-14 at the intermission. The Auggies had a difficult time getting the ball to go through the hoop as they made only 3-of-28 from the field (10.7 percent). The Gusties made 15-of-37 from the field (40.5 percent).
Gustavus went on a 9-2 run to open the second half and quickly extended the lead to 29 points at 45-16 with 15:53 on the clock. Later in the half, the Gusties were leading 56-27 at the 8:39 mark when they went on a 12-0 run that bumped the lead to 40 points at 68-28 with 5:14 left to play.
All 13 players on the Gustavus roster played five minutes or more in the game and 11 scored. Abby Rothenbuehler led the way with 19 followed by Molly Geske with 12. Rothenbuehler was the story for the Gusties as she made 8-of-13 from the field including 1-of-2 from behind the arc, and grabbed 15 rebounds and recorded the first double-double of her collegiate career. The 15 rebounds are the eighth highest single game total in the program’s history and the most by a Gustavus player since Kelly Etzel registered 16 rebounds against the Universidad Metropolitana on November 29, 2002.
The 41-point win for the Gusties is the largest margin of victory over an MIAC opponent since a 51-point win over St. Kate’s (106-55) on Feb. 10, 2001.
Gustavus will now break for finals and the holidays and not return to action until January 2 when they play at St. Catherine.