St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, as it defeated Crown College 81-31 in the first contest of its 2014-15 season on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court.
“Right now people are still trying to figure out their roles,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “With this many players on our team and this many new players, we are still trying to really establish what our rotations will be. You use these first five non-conference games to try and figure out where you are at going into conference play in December. We made a lot of mistakes, we had some good plays, and I guess that’s what you expect from the season opener.”
The Gusties wasted no time in their season-opener, jumping out to an 11-1 lead following a layup by Lindsey Johnson (Jr., Edina, Minn.) at the 15:46 mark. Gustavus continued to pour on the scoring over the next ten minutes and led by 26 points (35-9) with 5:51 let in the half before Crown was able to reach double-figures a the 4:14 point and cut the lead to 35-11.
By halftime, Gustavus was on top 43-17 was shooting 50-percent (16-32) from the field . The Gusties forced 20 Crown turnovers in the first half and 14 more in the second.
Gustavus continued to cruise in the second half, leading by as many as 40 points with 8:39 remaining in the game. The Gusties shot 35.7-percent (10-28) in the second half to finish the game 43.3-percent (26-60) from the field. Gustavus also went 8-for-20 from three-point range and took advantage at the free throw line by going 21-for-28. \
“We played a lot of kids and that is important early in the season,” said Kelly. “We have nine new players and eight of them played. I think they were nervous – this was the first time we’ve all been on the floor together in a real game situation. Crown is a team that struggled last year and is a rebuilding program, so I don’t think we were challenged the way we needed to be. At the same time, just to get the first game over with was important for us because of the nerves and our lack of experience.”
A total of 14 Gustavus players hit the scoresheet with at least one point. Mikayla Miller (Fy., Goodhue, Minn.) led all scorers with 17 points after going 7-for-20 from the field and 3-for-9 from three.
“Mikayla Miller proved to be a strong player as a freshman and she’ll look to be a player that we will go to down the line,” added Kelly. “Right now we are still trying to figure out our roles and with this many players on our team and this many new players, we are still trying to establish what our rotations will be. We use these first five non-conference games to figure out where you are at going heading into conference play in December.”
Also finishing in double-figures was Lindsey Johnson who added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from three.
The Gustavus women’s basketball team will cap the 2014 Tip Off Classic with a 3:00 p.m. game against Martin Luther College on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 3:00 p.m.
“Obviously a much better team in Martin Luther, said Kelly about the weekend finale. “They push the ball and they push the tempo. They have a phenomenal athlete in Leah Nass – ia very athletic post player who can shoot. They have some players who can hit threes, they have speed, and are much better ball handlers, so I think it’s going to be a night and day type of game and we’re going to need to play much better to be able to get a win.”