SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women's basketball team is set to face Hamline in the second round of the MIAC postseason at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27. The Gusties, who earned the No. 2 seed after claiming a share of the MIAC Regular Season Championship, but lost the tiebreaker coin flip, will take on No. 3-seeded Hamline at Gus Young Court for one of two semifinal games to be played on Thursday. 

The Gusties (24-1, 17-1 MIAC) collected their third consecutive regular season title, while the Pipers (19-7, 13-4 MIAC) finished third in the MIAC and earned a spot in the semifinal via a 73-61 win over Saint Mary's (13-12, 11-7 MIAC) on Tuesday. The other semifinal features top-seeded Bethel (21-4, 17-1 MIAC), which dealt the Gusties their only loss of the season on Jan. 18, finishing with an identical 17-1 conference record. The Royals won the conference coin flip to earn hosting duties and the top seed in the playoffs, and will face Saint Benedict (17-9, 11-7 MIAC), which reached the semis for the third-straight year after defeating Concordia (16-10, 11-7 MIAC) 68-64 on the road Tuesday. The highest remaining seed following both semifinal games will host the championship on Saturday. 

FREE ADMISSION FOR GUSTAVUS STUDENTS

The Gustavus Athletic Department, in partnership with SAAC, will cover the cost of all Gustie students for all playoff competitions on campus on both Thursday (Feb. 28) and Saturday (March 1). All students that arrive in the first 30 minutes of the game will be admitted for free. Campus dorms will also remain open until Saturday outside of spring break regulations, and SAAC will provide in-game fan incentives to students. 

TICKET INFORMATION

All tickets for the 2025 MIAC Playoffs will be sold and purchased online via HomeTown Ticketing. There will not be cash sales at any venue; however, spectators can purchase tickets using a mobile device, including while at the venue. Tickets are available for purchase immediately. General admission adult tickets are $12 (plus HTT service charge). Student (with ID) tickets are $3 (plus HTT service charge), and children ages five and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased  here.

GUSTIES IN THE MIAC PLAYOFFS

The MIAC Women's Basketball Playoff Championship was established in the 2000-01 season, and since then, Gustavus has made 23 appearances with a record of 22-21 and three championships – all of which came in the last three seasons. The Gusties are the only team in the conference, current or past, to have appeared in every season's MIAC playoff. St. Thomas owns the league record with nine total titles, and Carleton's five are the most among any current institution, but has not won since the 2007-08 season. The most recent non-Gustie team to win a championship was Bethel in 2020. Last season, the Gusties dominated Concordia 66-38 to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament with the largest margin of victory in a championship game in the history of the conference tournament, a mark also previously set by the Gusties the year before. 

SERIES HISTORY

Thursday's game marks the 85th meeting between Gustavus and Hamline on the court with the Gusties leading the all-time series, 74-10. The game will be the third postseason competition between the two teams. Gustavus has won both previous MIAC Playoff meetings, claiming an 84-76 victory in a 2020 quarterfinal and a 79-66 victory in the 2008 quarters. The Gusties are 39-1 against Hamline when playing at home, with a current win streak of 15 games over the Pipers. 

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

The Gusties finished their fourth consecutive 20-win season with a 74-51 win over St. Catherine last Saturday (Feb. 22). The 24-1 overall record is the team's best in a regular season in program history – no Gustavus women's basketball team has entered the postseason with just one loss. The Gusties were 25-2 at the end of the regular season in each of the last two years. Changes in the conference schedule allowed for a total of 18 games against MIAC opponents, compared to 20 in the 2023-24 season (Carleton did not field a team), and 22 in 2022-23. The Gusties have lost just seven games against conference opponents in the last four seasons combined. 

As a team, the Gusties average 67.5 points per game, holding opponents to just 47.7 points. The Gusties are shooting 43.2 percent as a team from the floor, 32.1 percent from three-point land, and 76.6 percent from the free throw line. Gustavus has shot above 50 percent in four games this season and held opponents to a mark of below 30 percent six times. The Gusties lead the MIAC in defense (47.7 ppg), team field goal percentage (.432), opponent field goal percentage (.346), three-point defense (.254), opponent rebounds (28.2), turnover margin (+7.04 turnovers forced), assist/turnover ratio (+1.22), and assists (15.92 apg).

Emma Kniefel (5th, Medford, Minn.), the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week, has led the Gustavus offense all season, averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting 51.7 percent, starting in all 25 of the Gusties' games. Kniefel is the only Gustie averaging double digit scoring. She ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.4 rpg), assists (2.8 apg), and steals (1.6 spg). Syd Hauger (5th, Springfield, Minn.) is next in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting. 

Izzy Quick (5th, Maple Grove, Minn.) has led the team's rebounding efforts all season, hauling in 6.5 boards per game, including 3.0 on the offensive end of the court. Her average off the offensive glass is tied for first in the conference, while her overall is tied for eighth. Kylie Baranick (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) has dished out a team-leading 76 assists for an average of 3.0 per game. Baranick leads the Gusties with a 3.30 assist/turnover ratio, and her 347 career assists rank fifth in program history. Baranick also leads the team in steals, grabbing an average of 1.8 per game with 45 total this season, which is tied for seventh in the conference.

SUPER SIX

Gustavus dropped one spot in the NCAA National Power Index (NPI) for Division III women's basketball, which now updates daily, but held at the top of Region IX, sitting sixth after the conclusion of the regular season. The Gusties were ranked No. 6 in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 released on Feb. 24, with five teams from the region also featured: UW-Oshkosh (No. 10), Wartburg (Iowa) (No. 13), UW-Stout (No. 22), Bethel (No. 24), and UW-Whitewater (No. 25).  

WEEK BY WEEK

The Gustie women's basketball team collected seven total MIAC Athlete of the Week honors this season. Both Kniefel and Quick led the way with a pair of selections each while Hauger, Morgan Kelly (Sr., Saint Peter, Minn.), and Rachel Kawiecki (Sr., Richfield, Minn.) were all named Defensive Player of the Week throughout the season. Kniefel was the only Gustie to earn the offensive honor. The seven awards are the most in a single season in program history, beating the previous record of three set in 2023-24. Kniefel was twice named to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week this season, becoming just the third player in program history to earn the honor, joining now Assistant Coach Angie Peterson Potts '04 HOF '19 and Jess Vadnais '08 HOF '23. Potts earned the honor in week seven of the 2001-02 season, while Vadnais received the award three times in the 2007-08 season. Kniefel and Vadnais are the only two players in Gustavus women's basketball history to receive the award more than once.

NATIONAL NOTABLES

The No. 6 Gusties are currently (through games of Feb. 23) third in NCAA Division III in winning percentage (.960), eighth in scoring defense (47.7 ppg), 10th in free throw percentage (76.6 percent), 11th in assist/turnover ratio (+1.22), 15th in fewest turnovers per game (13.0), 17th in scoring margin (+19.8 ppg), and 24th in turnover margin (+7.0 turnovers forced per game).

Individually, Kniefel ranks 34th in field goal percentage and first in the conference, shooting 51.7 percent this season. Baranick is the conference's assist/turnover ratio leader, with a mark of 3.30, which also ranks second in Division III this season. Kniefel led the NCAA in assist/turnover for much of the season, but no longer meets the qualifier of three assists per game. Baranick's three-point percentage of 45.0 (45-for-100) would rank eighth in the country if she met the qualifying standard of 2.0 threes made per game – she currently averages 1.8. Hauger's 40.5 percent from beyond the arc would also rank in the top-25.

AGAINST THE PIPERS 

In six total games against the Pipers in her career, Baranick has averaged 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game to lead the Gustie starters. Baranick has scored in the double digits against Hamline four times, with five or more rebounds on three different occasions. She scored 21 against the Pipers on 7-for-14 shooting, including a mark of 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. Against Hamline, the graduating Gustie seniors have gone 6-0 since the 2021-22 season, averaging 70.8 points to the Pipers' 47.8 for a +23.0 margin. 

CLIMBING THE RANKS

Kniefel claimed the program's record for most games played in a Gustie uniform on Saturday, Feb. 15, playing in her 114th against Saint Benedict, while her 21 points against Carleton on Wednesday, Feb. 19 moved her into sole possession of seventh on the Gustavus scoring list, passing Assistant Coach Potts with 1,364 in her career. Kniefel has averaged 14.9 points per game this season, but is averaging 21.4 in her last five games. Linn Erickson Ahrendt '87 HOF '02 is next on the all-time scoring list in sixth with 1,399 points.  

EARLIER THIS YEAR

Then-No. 8 Gustavus women's basketball bounced back after its first and only loss of the season, posting a 67-51 victory over Hamline on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at Hutton Arena.

Kelly led things off with a trey on the Gusties' opening possession to eliminate the two-point Hamline lead after tip-off. Hamline battled the Gusties to a pair of tie scores in the first quarter, and took the lead at 12-11 and again at 14-13. Kniefel picked up her own offensive board and hit a driving layup-and-one to swing the lead back in favor of the visitors, but a Piper shot from beyond the arc put Hamline up 17-16 after the first.

Kelly picked up right where she left off in the second frame, collecting an offensive rebound and five points to get the ball rolling for the No. 8 Gusties, but the home team continued to respond, tying things once more at 21-21. A Quick layup-and-one sparked a 14-4 run for the Gusties to take their first double digit lead at 35-25. The Pipers hit a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in the quarter to cut the lead back down to single digits, 37-30, at halftime.

Both teams struggled to make shots immediately following the break, but a quick Laurie Kelly timeout followed by a Kawiecki layup put the visitors back on track. Gustavus finished the frame with an 8-3 run, holding the Pipers just 1-for-6 from the floor for a 47-39 lead. The Pipers cut the lead to four early in the fourth quarter, but Kawiecki collected four of her own, followed by three-pointers out of the hands of both Kniefel and Baranick to put the game away for good. 

The Gusties shot 40 percent or better in all but the first quarter, while the defense forced 22 Hamline turnovers for 16 points. Gustavus out-rebounded the Pipers 31-28, including a mark of 13-8 in offensive boards, which resulted in 13 second chance points. Kawiecki (16 points) helped the Gustie bench to an 18-6 advantage over the Piper non-starters. Kniefel, in her 100th career start, led the Gusties with 16 points alongside Kawiecki, who shot 6-for-9 and 4-for-4 from the line. Baranick joined Kelly with 10 points, hitting two of the team's four made three-pointers on Wednesday night. Kniefel also led the rebounding efforts, with four offensive and five defensive for a game-high nine. 

Hamline's duo of Camille Cummings and Yasmeen Abed each posted 19 points for the Pipers. Three other players combined for the home team's other 13 points.

SCOUTING THE PIPERS

Hamline finished the regular season 19-7 overall and 13-5 in conference play, dropping its league games to Bethel twice, Saint Benedict, Concordia, and the Gusties. The Pipers average 61.7 points per game compared to opponents' 51.4 (+10.2 ppg margin). Hamline has shot 39.2 percent this season, 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 67.4 percent from the charity stripe. The Pipers are averaging 35.9 rebounds, 12.3 assists, and 15.3 turnovers per game. 

In the MIAC, Hamline ranks first in team three-point percentage (.346), three-pointers made per game (7.3), offensive rebounding (13.4 rpg), and steals (12.0 spg), second in points allowed (51.4 ppg) and turnover margin (+4.65 forced), and third in scoring margin (+10.2 ppg), opponent field goal percentage (.355), and three-point defense (.260). 

Hamline has a pair of players averaging more than 10 points per game in Camille Cummings (14.6) and Yasmeen Abed (10.1). Cummings is shooting 42.7 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from long range, while Abed is 41.8 percent from the floor. Cummings's 43.2 clip from beyond the arc is the best mark in the conference this season, while her 2.2 three-pointers made per game rank third in the MIAC. 

Defensively, Anna Rynkiewich has led the Piper rebounding efforts with an average of 4.6 per game, but two other Pipers, Marina LaFreniere and Cummings, average above 4.0 boards per contest as well. Rynkiewich leads the team with 10 blocks, while Abed has picked up 41 steals (1.7 per game) to lead the Pipers. Kate Trachsel has dished out an average of 2.8 assists per game, and owns a 1.57 assist/turnover ratio. 

THEIR LAST ACTION

The Pipers defeated Saint Mary's 73-61 on Tuesday, Feb. 25, in a MIAC Playoff Quarterfinal played at Hamline's Sutton Arena in St. Paul. 

All five of the Pipers' starters scored in the double digits, while the team shot 51 percent (26-for-51) from the floor and 50 percent (10-for-20) from three-point range. The Pipers out-rebounded SMU 37-25 and forced 15 Cardinal turnovers for 23 points. 

The lead changed six times in the first quarter, until Josie Wiebusch, sister of Gustie grad Sienna Wiebusch '23, hit a three-pointer for an 18-16 Hamline lead at the end of the frame. Saint Mary's regained the lead in the second quarter, extending it to as much as six points, but the Pipers responded in step, heading into halftime with a six point lead of their own 38-32. 

The Pipers took their first double digit lead of the game in the third quarter, 42-32, and never looked back, scoring eight points off nine free throw attempts in the second half to seal the victory and punch a ticket to meet the Gusties in the semifinal.

Abed collected 13 points on 5-for-9 (55.5 percent) shooting, followed by 12 for Cummings and Wiebusch, 11 for LaFreniere, and 10 for Trachsel. Every Piper that saw time on the floor grabbed a rebound, led by LaFreniere's seven.