MILWAUKEE – The Gustavus Adolphus College Golden Gusties women's basketball team battled the Wisconsin Lutheran College Knights on the road Friday night at the Paul F. Knueppel Classic in their season opener, falling 69-54.
The Gusties and Knights battled back and forth through the opening minutes of the game.
Kaitlyn Schaefer gave Gustavus a 15-14 lead with a three-point shot with 3:00 remaining in the opening quarter. That would be the last time the Gusties led in the game as Wisconsin Lutheran responded with a basket on their next possession and closed out the last minutes of the quarter with a 14-2 run to take a 28-17 lead.
WLC continued their strong play in the second quarter, building their lead up to 23 points as the game moved to halftime with the Gusties trailing 49-26.
In the third quarter, Gustavus started to rally back. The Gusties shot 47 percent from the field in the frame to whittle the Knights' lead down to just 10 points as Gustavus trailed just 57-47 heading into the fourth.
The Gusties' rally stalled in the final quarter as Wisconsin Lutheran hit a three to open the frame up and kept up the pressure from there. The Knights won the quarter 12-7 to secure the 69-54 win over Gustavus.
Schaefer led the Gusties with 14 points.
Anna Goodman followed with nine points and four steals.
Whitley Ronn led Gustavus with eight rebounds and three assists.
Up next for the Gusties is their second of two games at the Paul F. Knueppel Classic in Milwaukee as they take on the DePauw University Tigers at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15.
