SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s basketball team shot 57.9 percent from the field en rout to a convincing 90-61 win over Carleton Wednesday night. With the win the Gusties move to 15-5 overall and 11-4 in the MIAC, while the Knights fall to 7-13 overall and 4-11 in the conference.
“After watching the Carleton and Augsburg game last week I was a little nervous about this game coming into it because they’re really solid and have some great players, but we had players step up and we made a lot of shots,” said Head Coach Laurie Kelly. “It’s where we’ve been kind of up and down this year but we shot well and Anna Sanders was on fire for us. After two straight home losses we knew coming into today we only had two more home games guaranteed so for us to come out and play how we did was really good to see.”
After Carleton jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, the Gusties would eventually pull things even at eight thanks to three buckets from Paige Richert (Jr., Comfrey) and a jumper from Ava Gonsorowski (Jr., Esko). Gustavus would open things up from there, outscoring the Knights 18-7 in the last 5:07 of the opening frame to take a 26-15 lead after one quarter. The Knights would cut the deficit to eight a few times in the early goings of the second quarter, but Gustavus would hit its stride and push the lead to 46-27 at the break.
Anna Sanders (Fy., Vadnais Heights) played a key role in the first half surge from the Gusties, dropping in 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting including 3-for-3 from long range. Richert added 11 first half points and Caitlin Rorman (Fy., Blue Earth) 10 in a half that saw the Gusties shoot 58.1 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from downtown.
After a Carleton basket to open the second half, Gustavus would score six straight points to lead by 23, and the two teams would trade baskets the remainder of the quarter, with Gustavus leading 66-44 after three quarters. The Knights would play resilient in the early stages of the final quarter, cutting the lead to 17, but the Black and Gold would score on 9-of-10 possessions from the 6:39 mark to the 1:46 mark to push their lead to 30 and eventually take the 90-61 win.
Rorman led the Gusties with 23 points while Sanders added 22 on 8-of-9 shooting. Richert added 16 points to go along with a team-best six rebounds.
Gustavus is next in action when they travel to St. Olaf for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday.