ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - Gustavus women's basketball traveled to St. Joseph on Wednesday night to take on Saint Ben's in the MIAC finale before the new year, dropping the game, 67-45.
Ella Peters (Jr., River Falls, Wis.) and
Whitley Ronn (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) led the Gusties offensively, contributing 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Bennies got off to a hot start, digging the Gusties into an 8-0 hole early. Peters then scored the first four points for the Gusties, followed by a Ronn three-pointer to get the lead back to six. After trading buckets, Saint Benedict added a three-pointer to end the quarter leading by nine points.
Saint Ben's started the second quarter just like the first, grabbing eight early points in the first two minutes compared to the Gusties' two. A quick 4-2 run by Gustavus in the next two minutes was cut short by another 6-0 run by the Bennies to push their lead to 19 with just under five minutes on the clock for the second period. Determined to claw back, the Gusties drained two threes and a layup for an 8-2 run of their own to end the second frame down 13 points.
Anna Goodman (So., Lakeville, Minn.) got the second half started with a jumper, assisted by Ronn, followed by a layup by Peters to get the lead down to 12 early. From there, it took five minutes for the Gusties to find their flow again, but
Bella Sutch (So., Blaine, Minn.) took over for the next minute, adding seven points to the Gusties' tally in the short span.
Peters added four more points in the fourth quarter and
Ava Westerman (Jr., Pewaukee, Wis.),
Olivia Grothaus (So., Hudson, Wis.), and
Peyton Stevermer (Jr., Mankato, Minn.) all added points, but the lead was too much to surmount as the Gusties dropped the MIAC matchup, 67-45.
Gustavus led on the glass, bringing in 35 rebounds compared to the Bennies' 32, including a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass which led to 14 second chance points. The Gustie bench was a bright spot as well, bringing 18 points to the matchup and the team added 24 points in the paint over the course of the night. Peters led with 12 points and was just one rebound away from her second consecutive double-double.
Gustavus women's basketball is home for the first time in 24 days on Saturday when the host UW-Eau Claire, set for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff at Gus Young Court.
