SAINT PETER, Minn. - In their final home game of 2025, Gustavus women's basketball dropped a non-conference against UW-Eau Claire, 61-46.
Kaitlyn Schaefer (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) had a career day for the Gusties, scoring 18 points for the Gusties, including four three-pointers. The Gusties wrapped up their year on Gus Young Court with a 9-2 record at home, including a MIAC Playoff Semifinal win last season and two NCAA Tournament games last season.
An early three pointer by
Ella Peters (Jr., River Falls, Wis.) was the first and only time the Gusties had the lead, putting Gustavus up 3-0. From there, UW-Eau Claire went on a 16-2 run, pulling in from 16-5 with 3:41 to go in the first quarter. The Gusties then went on an 11-2 run themselves to end the quarter, including a buzzer-beater by junior
Peyton Stevermer (Mankato, Minn.) to close the gap to two at the first break.
Continuing the build on the momentum from the first quarter, the Gusties dug themselves out of a five-point deficit early in the second quarter with another 5-1 run, all of which came from Schaefer, closing the gap to one point just 1:35 into the quarter. Then, the Blugolds went on a 5-0 run themselves, only thwarted by another 6-0 run by Gustavus to tie the game at 27 with 6:39 remaining in the half. The game slowed from there, with eight total points scored the rest of the quarter, six of which were for the Blugolds to cement themselves with a four-point margin at halftime.
The third quarter was where UW-Eau Claire pushed themselves ahead truly, outscoring the Gusties 14-7. Stevermer scored the first two points of the quarter for Gustavus just 20 seconds into the frame, but then the home team was held scoreless for the next 5:12 of game time. UW-Eau Claire also was held relatively low in that period though, as well, scoring six points to take a 10 point lead. A three-pointer by Schaefer would cut the lead to seven and
Chloe Scholl (Fy., Alexandria, Minn.) scored her first collegiate points to get it down to eight with 51 seconds left, but a three-pointer by the Blugolds, pushed the lead to 11 by the time the buzzer sounded on the third quarter.
An early 7-2 run for UW-Eau Claire pushed the lead to 16, but the Gusties were not done scoring quite yet. Three pointers from
Olivia Grothaus (So., Hudson, Wis.) and Schaefer gave Gustavus six more points, but they were matched by five points from the Blugolds to stop any momentum the Gusties would carry down the stretch. Schaefer capped off her career day with two more points with two minutes remaining, but UW-Eau Claire used their early push to finish the game up by 15.
Schaefer led with 18 points and
Bella DeHaan (So., Lakeville, Minn.) led on the glass with 10 rebounds. Peters played a career high in minutes with 38, the third most this season by an individual player. As a team, the Gusties led in terms of the rebound margin, bringing down 37 rebounds compared to UW-Eau Claire's 32.
The Gustavus women's basketball team turns right around on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., traveling up to St. Paul to take on Northwestern-St. Paul
