Gustavus 86, Macalester 49 (Box) | Photo Gallery
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women’s basketball team took control from the start and never regressed, earning an 86-49 victory over Macalester College on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court. The win is the third straight for the Gusties who are now 14-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference. The Scots fall to 7-12 overall and 2-10 in the conference with the defeat.
“We seemed to turn a corner and play well against Bethel, so it was nice to come home and keep that momentum going today,” said Coach Laurie Kelly. “At this time of year, you want your team to be peaking and starting to play its best basketball. With our group, you can see the players coming into their own after playing the minutes they have together. We’re really gelling as a team and are making huge strides.”
Gustavus took control early, as it ran to a 12-0 advantage just 4:03 into the contest. The Gusties continued to build their lead and jumped ahead 26-10 going into the first intermission, with seven different team members scoring in the first 10 minutes.
The Black and Gold took its first 20 point lead 3:34 into the second quarter on a layup by Emee Udo (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) and eventually went into halftime up 24 at 46-22. Miranda Rice (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) led the Gusties in the first half with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, while Lindsey Johnson (Sr., Edina, Minn.) chipped in eight on 2-of-4 shooting, including going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
The Gusties came out of halftime with just as much fire as they did in the first half, and momentum stuck with the home team throughout the second. Less than five minutes into the third quarter, Gustavus took its first 30 point lead at 55-24 and brought that advantage to 40 with 5:24 remaining in the contest. When the final horn sounded, the Gusties were up 37 at 86-39 and had played every one of their 18 players on the roster.
Overall, Johnson led Gustavus with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Mikayla Miller (So., Goodhue, Minn.) had 12 points, Steph Klockmann (So., Brownton, Minn.) tallied 11, and Rice scored nine points and grabbed a team-high six boards. Gustavus out-rebounded Macalester 42-22, committed 15 turnovers (three and a half less than its average of 18.7 per game), and shot 51.8 percent from the floor. The Gusties notched 22 of their 86 points off Scot turnovers, and also received 47 points from their bench compared to 10 from Macalester. Transfer Olivia Graskewicz (Hudson, Wis.) also turned in a highlight for the home team, as the first-year transfer scored her first collegiate points on a jumper with 1:12 remaining in the game.
“Rebounding continued to be a big strength for us and it was nice that we kept our turnovers down as well…those were two big focuses coming into today and we accomplished both pretty well,” said Kelly. “With a tough week coming up, this was a nice win for us to keep our confidence up and now, we just need to take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
Leah Gray led Macalester with 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting, while Regan Fruh was the other Scot double-digit scorer with 10, going 5-of-9 from the floor.
Gustavus returns home on Wednesday for a crucial MIAC matchup with No. 16 University of St. Thomas, a team that is currently in first place in the conference standings. The Tommies defeated the Gusties 67-45 earlier this season, but Gustavus did have a four-point halftime lead in that game before St. Thomas went on a 17-2 run to begin the third quarter to pull away. Tipoff against the Tommies on Wednesday is set for 7 p.m. at Gus Young Court.