ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team continues Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs Thursday at Saint Benedict. Tipoff for the semifinal game is 7 p.m. at the Claire Lynch Hall with a trip to the MIAC title game on the line. The No. 3 seed Gusties advanced to the semifinals with a 65-38 win over St. Catherine on Tuesday, while the No. 2 seed Blazers received a first round bye.
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MIAC Playoff History: Since the initiation of the six-team MIAC Tournament in the 2000-01 season, the Gusties have qualified for the conference playoffs every year. Gustavus is making its 18th consecutive appearance in the MIAC Playoffs this season, holding a record of 11-16 in that time. No team in the MIAC has earned a trip to the league playoffs every year except for Gustavus. Road playoff games have been tough on the Gusties as they are winless in 15 MIAC postseason games as the visiting team. Gustavus has yet to claim a MIAC playoff title, but it has earned six trips to the NCAA tournament.
The Series: Thursday’s game marks the 75th meeting between Gustavus and Saint Benedict with the Blazers holding a 48-26 advantage in the all-time series. The Gusties had won four-straight in the series until the Blazers claimed a 66-62 win last Wednesday in St. Joseph. A rough first quarter put the Gusties in a 13-point hole, one it was not able to climb out of. The Gusties outscored the Blazers in the final three quarters but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.
Saint Ben’s stormed out of the gates with an 11-2 lead in the first 3:33 of the game. The Blazers increased their lead to 34-18, the largest of the night, with 3:45 remaining in the first half and carried a 38-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Gusties struggled from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, making just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The Blazers held a double-digit lead for the first four minutes of the third quarter before Justine Lee (Jr., Dawson, Minn.) made a trey and a jumper to make it 45-41 with 3:26 left in the frame. The home team countered with an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter to lead 62-49 with 4:08 left in the game. Gustavus had an answer down the stretch as it went on a 13-2 run to make the score 64-62 with 34 seconds on the clock. Saint Ben’s made one-of-two free throws on the ensuing possession to take a three-point lead, but the Gusties were unable to counter on their next trip down the court and were forced to foul. The Blazers went 1-for-2 again at the charity stripe to lead by four points with eight seconds remaining and the Gusties simply ran out of time.
Miranda Rice led the offense with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. Lee followed with 17 points, while Mikayla Miller added 12 points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Black and Gold shot 40 percent from the field and 25 percent (5-20) from three-point range. Saint Ben’s won the offensive battle down low, outscoring the Gusties 36-26 in the paint.
Chelsey Guetter led the Blazers with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, along with a game-high nine rebounds, while Niki Fokken added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Scouting the Blazers: Saint Ben’s secured the No. 2 seed with a 66-62 win over Gustavus on Feb. 14, but was unable to top St. Thomas in its regular season finale, losing 67-64. The Blazers had won seven straight games and 17 of their last 18 games before the loss to the Tommies. Niki Fokken and Chelsey Guetter have led the Blazers all season with 13.8 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Fokken and Guetter also lead the team on the boards with 6.0 and 6.2 rebounds per game. As a team, the Blazers lead the league with the fewest turnovers per game (13.8) and the fewest personal fouls per game (14). They also rank second in rebounding (37.6) and second in scoring defense (53.7).
Record watch: Mikayla Miller currently has 1,735 career points, which trails program record holder Jess Vadnais (2004-08) by 44 points. Miller is already the program record holder in career steals (307) and career field goals made (609). Miranda Rice will play in her 108th career game Thursday, which will tie Bri Radtke (2006-10) and Kate Sandvig (2000-04) for most games played by a Gustavus women’s basketball player.