The Gustavus women’s basketball team raced out to a 27-8 lead midway through the first half en route to a 75-64 win over Augsburg on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. Jess Vadnais (So., Hudson, Wis.) scored 19 points to lead the Gusties, while Kenzie Consoer (So., Mankato, Minn.) added 13 off the bench.
Gustavus dominated play in the first half, outshooting the Auggies 57.1 percent to 38.5 percent on the way to a 40-25 lead. The Gusties also took a 19-4 advantage in bench points into the halftime break on the strength of six points by both Consoer and Emily Nelson (Fy., Mankato, Minn.), as well as another five by guard Michelle Linbo (Sr., Rochester, Minn.).
The Gusties’ hot shooting cooled off a bit in the second half, falling to 44.4 percent, but the lead extended to 23 points on two occasions (52-29 and 55-32) early in the period. Augsburg would mount a charge during a six-minute stretch midway through the second half, out-scoring Gustavus 15-4 to cut the lead to 11 points with 3:28 to go in the game, but it would not be enough. A three-pointer by Katie LaGrave with 1:26 remaining would cut the lead to 10 points at 72-62, but a jumper by Vadnais finally put the game out of reach.
Augsburg’s Rosinta Stromquist led all players with 29 points on 12-of-25 shooting and a game-high 11 rebounds. LaGrave would add 15 points, 11 in the second half.
In addition to Vadnais and Consoer, the Gusties were helped offensively by Bri Monahan (Jr., Hutchinson, Minn.), Sara Boldt (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) and Nelson. Monahan had a relatively quiet night, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and hauling in a team-high six rebounds. Boldt added nine points, all in the first half, to her six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Nelson added eight points off the bench.
Gustavus improves to 9-3 overall, 7-2 in the MIAC and will travel to St. Joseph on Wednesday for a game with league-leader College of Saint Benedict. Augsburg, which falls to 3-10 overall, 1-8 in the MIAC will host the Blazers on Monday evening.
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