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WAVERLY, Iowa – In a battle of nationally ranked women’s basketball teams, No. 17 Gustavus was unable to complete a fourth quarter comeback, losing 68-60 to No. 11 UW-Whitewater on Friday at the Wartburg Holiday Tournament. The Gusties got within two points of the lead with two minutes remaining in the contest after trailing by as many as 19, but the Warhawks closed out the game at the free throw line in the waning moments to remain perfect (10-0) on the season. Gustavus falls to 8-2 overall.
The game proved to be a tale of two halves as UW-Whitewater outscored Gustavus 23-14 in the first quarter and then added to its lead in the second for a comfortable 42-23 advantage at halftime. The Warhawks shot 50 percent in the first 20 minutes compared to 29.2 percent by the Gusties.
The Black and Gold made adjustments after the break and outscored the Warhawks 18-13 in the third quarter, bringing the deficit to 14 points at 55-41. The Gusties then got the difference into single digits three minutes into the fourth quarter and followed with seven unanswered points to make the score 59-57 with 2:19 to play. Gustavus made 8-of-14 shots (57%) during the first eight minutes of the final quarter, but made just one shot from the floor in the final two minutes of the game.
“In the second half we played so much more of what we are capable of doing, but we just put ourselves into a big hole in the first,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “There are a lot of good things you can take from this game, but we still lost. Hopefully we can get back on track tomorrow in the consolation game.”
After shooting under 30 percent in the first half, the Gusties improved to 45.2 percent shooting in the second half for a total of 38.2 percent. The Black and Gold defense was stout in the final 20 minutes, limiting the Warhawks to just 20.8 percent shooting from the field (5-24), but the opposition also made 14-of-18 free throws in the second half and went 23-for-27 in the game. Rebounding was even at 37 boards apiece.
Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) led the Gusties with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting along with nine rebounds. Justine Lee (Jr., Dawson, Minn.) also reached double figures with 10 points.
Gustavus now faces UW-Superior at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the consolation game.