SAINT PETER, Minn. — For the third consecutive season, the Gustavus women's basketball team (24-2 overall, 19-1 MIAC) is set to play in the MIAC Playoff Championship, facing Concordia (20-4 overall, 18-2 MIAC) at home for a rematch of last year's title game. 

PANDEMONIUM IN SAINT PETER

Saturday's championship will be one of three MIAC playoff games on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus Saturday afternoon. The day will begin with a 2 p.m. women's hockey semifinal, followed by the 2024 MIAC Women's Basketball Playoff Championship at 3 p.m. The Gustie men's basketball team will wrap up the schedule by hosting their playoff championship game as well. This marks the first time that all three events will be hosted on one day for the Gusties, and the first time in the MIAC since the 2007-08 season, when St. Thomas accomplished the same winter sport feat. 

GUSTIES IN THE MIAC PLAYOFFS

The MIAC Women's Basketball Playoffs began in 2001, and since then Gustavus has made appearances in each playoff for 22 years with a record of 21-21, including the team's first playoff championships in 2022 followed by a repeat title in 2023. This year's playoff appearance marks the second consecutive year the Gusties own the No. 1 seed and home court advantage outright. Last season, the Gusties defeated Saint Benedict in the semifinals and Concordia in the championship. They went on to beat Ohio Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to UW-Whitewater in the second round. 

This is the eighth MIAC Championship game for the Gustavus women's basketball team, which has an all-time record of 2-5 in the chipper. Last season, the Gusties defeated Concordia 79-57 to win the title. The 2021-22 team won the program's first-ever championship against Augsburg the year before, winning 65-56 on the road. 

THE SERIES

Today's game marks the 90th on the court between the Gusties and the Cobbers, with Concordia owning the winning record, 55-34. Of the Gusties' 34 wins over Concordia, 25 of them have come at home. The two teams split the series this year, each winning on their own home court. This is the seventh playoff meeting between the Cobbers and the Gusties, with Gustavus owning a 5-2 winning record in the postseason.

The Gusties and Cobbers have emerged as the top two teams in the conference in recent years. Concordia dealt the Gusties their only conference loss of the season, a 73-65 decision in Moorhead. In their last 10 games, the Gusties have gotten the better of Concordia, 7-3. The team averages 64 points in games against the Cobbers, with 37 points as the largest margin of victory over Concordia, achieved inn a 73-36 victory in 2019. 

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

The Gusties, raranked No. 5 in this week's d3hoops.com national poll, and coming in at No. 8 according to the WBCA, are coming off an impressive defensive victory in the team's semifinal win over Saint Benedict, defeating the Bennies 68-45. The Gusties are led by the trio of Syd Hauger, Emma Kniefel, and Rachel Kawiecki, who each pace the offense with more than 11.0 points per game. The team is shooting 48.3 percent on the year, good for third overall in the country, while their scoring margin of 24.4 ranks ninth in the nation. The Gusties are averaging 18.3 assists per game, another top-NCAA stat, and their rebound margin of 10.8 is first in the conference and 13th in Division III.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Gustie defense has been the talk of MIAC women's basketball this season. On 30 different occasions, Gustavus has held opponents to single digits in a quarter, with a season-low two points allowed in a quarter twice this season – once against Macalester and again vs. Saint Mary's. As a team, the Gusties allow just 50.8 points per game compaared to their 75.2 scored, and have held opponents to 33.9 percent shooting and a mark of 27.3 from three.  

HOME SWEET HOME

The Gusties are undefeated at home this season with a record of 13-0 and a streak of 22 that dates back to a loss in Jan. 2023 against Bethel. The Gusties have eclipsed the century mark twice this season, both times at home, once over St. Catherine on Jan. 27, and another time over St. Scholastica in the team's very next game. 

TRIPLE THREAT

The Gustie trio of Emma Kniefel, Syd Hauger, and Rachel Kawiecki have inspired the team's offense this season, all averaging above 11.0 points per game on extremely effective shooting. Hauger leads the MIAC and is one of the top shooters in the country with a 65.3 percent field goal percentage, tied for first in NCAA DIII. Kniefel, who is also one of the conference's top defensive players, has averaged 11.6 points on 46.7 shooting, with 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.2 steals per game to her name. Meanwhile, Kawiecki is shooting an efficient 58.4 percent and picking up 4.3 rebounds per game, including 1.9 on the offensive end of the court. 

LAST ACTION

In a rematch of last year's MIAC women's basketball semifinal, Gustavus posted a similar result with a decisive 68-45 win over Saint Benedict on Thursday night at Gus Young Court.

Gustavus scored the first five points of the game and never relinquished the lead. The Gusties led by a 17-3 margin in the first seven minutes, highlighted by Syd Hauger scoring nine points and the defense limiting the Bennies to 1-of-7 shooting from the field. The home squad led 21-11 after the first quarter and created a wide margin of separation in the second quarter, outscoring the Bennies 25-9 in the frame for a comfortable 46-20 lead at halftime. Hauger finished a strong first half wit 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. 

The Gusties put the game out of reach in the third quarter, increasing their lead to as much as 35 points and Coach Laurie Kelly was able to clear her bench in the fourth quarter. Gustavus shot just 42 percent from the field with Emma Kniefel leading the way with 18 points and seven assists. Hauger added 15 points, all in the first half, while Rachel Kawiecki contributed 10 points. Morgan Kelly led the team on the boards with eight rebounds off the bench. 

LAST TIME OUT – GUSTIES vs. COBBERS

The Gustavus women's basketball team's streak of 33 consecutive victories against conference opponents came to an end at Concordia in a 73-65 loss.

Izzy Quick played the best game of her collegiate career, scoring a career-high 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field while hauling in a career-high 18 rebounds. Quick's 26 points are the most scored by a Gustie since Ava Gonsorowski tallied 29 against Hamline on Jan. 22, 2020, and her 18 rebounds are the most since Hannah Howard also collected 18 boards against St. Catherine on Feb. 15, 2017. 

Unfortunately for Quick and the Gusties, the rest of the team shot a pedestrian 37.2 percent (16-43) and made just 1-of-13 three-pointers. Turnovers proved to be costly as the Gusties committed 18, resulting in 14 extra points for the Cobbers. 

After trading buckets to start the game with four lead changes, Concordia held a slim 22-21 advantage after the first quarter. The Gusties gained their largest lead of four points after Emma Kniefel hit a couple free throws at the 7:38 mark of the second, but the Cobbers ended the half on a 10-6 run to tie the score 33-33 at the break. 

The start of the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game as the Cobbers went on a 10-2 run in the first 4:17 of the second half for a 43-35 lead. Concordia increased its lead to as much as 14 points with 4:36 left in the game, but the Gusties did not go away quietly. Gustavus cut the difference down to six points after Syd Hauger made a three, Morgan Kelly made a layup, and Quick hit a free throw making the score 67-61 with 2:34 on the clock. But that was the closest the Gusties got as Concordia closed out the game at the free throw line. 

SCOUTING THE COBBERS

The Cobbers have emerged as the Gusties' No. 1 rival, returning to the MIAC championship for the second year against the Gusties. The Cobbers lead the nation in free throw shooting, with an average of 17.96 made per game on 80.0 percent shooting from the charity stripe. Makayla Anderson is the team's leading scorer, with 14.8 points per game on 51.7 shooting. Carlee Sieben isn't far behind, averaging 14.5 of her own on 40.1 percent shooting. Both shoot above 80 percent from the free throw line. Anderson also leads the team's rebound efforts, averaging 7.7 boards per game. As a team, Concordia is shooting 42.5 from the floor, the second-best mark in the MIAC only to the Gusties. All four of the Cobbers' losses this season have come on the road. Concordia returns to the championship after defeating St. Catherine 80-71 in Moorhead on Thursday.

FREE THROWIN'

The Cobbers average 17.96 free throws made on 22.46 attempted per game for a percentage of 80.0, all numbers that are top in Division III this season. Against St. Catherine on Thursday, the Cobbers went 30-for-40 from the charity stripe to lead them to an 11-point win over the Wildcats. Carlee Sieben is 15th in the nation with an individual free throw percentage of 86.2.

ANDERSON ATTACK

Junior Makayla Anderson has been one of the MIAC's best forwards this season, averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game to lead her team to one of its best seasons in the conference and overall. Anderson has hit double figures in 19 of her 24 games this season, and is averaging 17.5 points per game in her last six contests.