ST. PETER, Minn. – The No. 25-ranked Gustavus women’s basketball team outscored St. Catherine in all four quarters Saturday, cruising to a 67-40 victory at Gus Young Court. The Gusties also forced 29 turnovers and limited the Wildcats to 31.7 percent shooting to improve to 14-3 overall and 8-2 in the MIAC.
“Defensively I thought we had a good start,” Head Coach Laurie Kelly said. “We struggled a little bit in the first half playing team basketball. That changed in the third quarter and I was happy to see that. I thought we distributed the ball well with three players in double figures.”
After trading a couple points to start the game, Gustavus went on a 13-3 run to end the first quarter and never looked back. The Gusties continued to add to their lead in the second quarter and carried a 35-17 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Gustavus shot 50 percent (14-28) in the first half and held the visitors to 21.7 percent (5-23).
The Black and Gold did not let off the gas in the second half, leading by as much as 30 (66-36) with 3:52 remaining in the game. Gustavus finished the game 51 percent (25-49) shooting from the field, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. The Gusties also shot 12-of-17 from the free throw line. St. Kate’s out-rebounded the Gusties 30-26, but gave up 40 points in the paint.
Miranda Rice (Sr., Forest Lake, Minn.) led a trio of Gusties in double figure scoring with 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Mikayla Miller (Sr., Goodhue, Minn.) and Kendall Thompson (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively.
“We don’t have a ton of home games left so every time we have the opportunity to step on Gus Young Court is great for us,” Kelly said. “The alumni game today brought back some former players so that was great to have them here and cheering us on.”
Gustavus has a much-anticipated rematch with league-leading St. Thomas on Wednesday night in St. Paul. The Tommies won the first game of the season series 74-66 on Dec. 13 in St. Peter.