FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Coming off its first loss of the season yesterday, No. 8 Gustavus women's basketball bounced back Thursday and held on for a 64-62 win over Simpson at the Cruzin' Classic, improving to 8-1 overall.
Trailing by 10 points with 53 seconds left in regulation, Simpson made four consecutive threes in 34 seconds to make it a two-point game, but during that span
Kylie Baranick went 7-for-8 at the free throw line to maintain the Gustie advantage and hold on for the win.
"Before these last two games, we haven't been challenged late in the game so to go through that experience was huge for us and we learned a lot about ourselves," Head Coach
Laurie Kelly said. "Sometimes it wasn't pretty by Kylie was big down the stretch and we accomplished our goal of coming away with a win."
Baranick finished with a game-high 18 points, including three made shots from beyond the arc. She also had eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal.
Emma Kniefel and
Syd Hauger each contributed 12 points and six rebounds.
Izzy Quick led the team down on the blocks with 11 rebounds.
Gustavus shot 35.5 percent from the floor and went 8-for-30 from long range. The Gusties edged the Storm on the boards 41-36.
"We're tired after playing a lot of minutes the past two games but excited to spend the next two days on the beach and enjoy time together before returning home for the holidays."
Gustavus hosts Bethel in a non-conference game on Saturday, Dec. 30.
