MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Gustavus women's basketball team's streak of 33 consecutive victories against conference opponents came to an end Wednesday night at Concordia in a 73-65 loss. Suffering their first MIAC loss since Jan. 4, 2023, the Gusties drop to 19-2 overall and 15-1 in the league, while Concordia improves to 16-4 overall and 15-2 in the league.
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. Kate's on Feb. 15, 2017.
"We wouldn't have been in the game without her and if she makes all her free throws then she has 30," Head Coach
Laurie Kelly said of Quick. "She was the highlight of the game and to watch her tonight was amazing."
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.
"Credit to Concordia for forcing costly turnovers and scoring in transition, which doesn't happen to us all that often," Kelly said. "That's a tough place to play and we weren't ready to play tonight."
With 10 days left in the regular season, the Gusties have four home games before playoffs begin, starting with Saint Benedict on Saturday afternoon.
