SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women's basketball team is set to return to its fourth consecutive MIAC Championship at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. The No. 6 Gusties, who earned the No. 2 seed after claiming a share of the MIAC Regular Season Championship, but lost the tiebreaker coin flip, will travel to No. 24 Bethel, which shared the regular season title with the Gusties, at Robertson Center Gym Saturday afternoon.  

The Gusties (25-1, 17-1 MIAC) collected their third consecutive regular season title and defeated Hamline (19-8, 13-5 MIAC) in the semifinals 71-35, while the Royals (22-4, 17-1 MIAC), who dealt the Gusties their only loss of the season on Jan. 18, finished with an identical 17-1 conference record. Bethel won the conference coin flip to earn hosting duties and the top seed in the playoffs, and defeated Saint Benedict (17-10, 11-7 MIAC) 50-79 on Tuesday. 

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 23-21 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

Saturday's game marks the 92nd between Gustavus and Bethel on the court with the Gusties leading the all-time series, 59-32. The game will be the seventh postseason competition between the two teams. The Gusties and Royals most recently met in the postseason in the 2020 tournament, with Bethel claiming a 70-62 victory in the semifinals, one game before their last MIAC playoff title. The Gusties' last win over Bethel in the postseason was in 2017, a 72-67 semifinal victory to advance to the championship game at St. Thomas. Saturday's game will be the first in the championship between the two programs. The Gusties are 27-17 when playing in Arden Hills, and have won their last four on the road against the Royals. 

SCOUTING THE GUSTIES

The Gusties finished their fourth consecutive 20-win season with a 74-51 win over St. Catherine a week ago, Saturday, Feb. 22. The 24-1 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 67.6 points per game, holding opponents to just 47.2 points. The Gusties are shooting 43.3 percent as a team from the floor, 32.5 percent from three-point land, and 76.4 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 seven times. The Gusties lead the MIAC in defense (47.2 ppg), team field goal percentage (.433), opponent field goal percentage (.341), three-point defense (.251), opponent rebounds (28.2), turnover margin (+7.0 turnovers forced), assist/turnover ratio (+1.21), and assists (16.0 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 52.1 percent, starting in all 26 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 9.3 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting. 

Izzy Quick (5th, Maple Grove, Minn.) has led the team's rebounding efforts all season, hauling in 6.7 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 79 assists for an average of 3.0 per game. Baranick leads the Gusties with a 2.93 assist/turnover ratio, and her 350 career assists rank fifth in program history. Baranick also leads the team in steals, grabbing an average of 1.7 per game with 45 total this season, which is tied for seventh in the conference.

SUPER SIX

Gustavus held at No. 6 in the NCAA National Power Index (NPI) for Division III women's basketball, which now updates daily, and at the top of Region IX, sitting sixth after games of Feb. 27. Bethel is No. 16 in NPI. 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. 27) third in NCAA Division III in winning percentage (.962), fifth in scoring defense (47.2 ppg), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (+1.21), 13th in free throw percentage (.764), 15th in scoring margin (+20.4 ppg), 21st in turnover margin (+6.96 turnovers forced per game), and 22nd in fewest turnovers per game (13.2).

Individually, Kniefel ranks 33rd in field goal percentage and second in the conference, shooting 52.1 percent this season. Baranick is the conference's assist/turnover ratio leader, with a mark of 2.93, 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 43.4 (46-for-106) would rank 10th in the country if she met the qualifying standard of 2.0 threes made per game – she currently averages 1.8. Kniefel's 41.2 percent from beyond the arc would also rank in the top-20.

BACK FOR FOUR

Gustavus could become just the third institution to claim four consecutive MIAC Playoff Championships, a feat that has been accomplished only by St. Thomas and Carleton. The tournament began in 2001, with the Tommies collecting a record eight in a row from 2012-19, while the Knights won consecutively from 2001-04. Men's tennis, women's hockey, and women's tennis are the only three programs to win four consecutive playoff titles in Gustavus Athletics history.

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 1,380 in her career. Kniefel has averaged 14.9 points per game this season, but is averaging 20.5 in her last six games, an uptick that started with a 21-point performance against Bethel on Feb. 8. Linn Erickson Ahrendt '87 HOF '02 is next on the all-time scoring list in sixth with 1,399 points. Kniefel ranks 17th amongst all active DIII women's basketball players with 117 games played in her career. 

BATTLE ROYAL

At least one member of the Gustie graduating class has played in a total of 12 games against Bethel since the 2020-21 season, led by Kniefel with appearances in all 12 of the two teams' last match-ups. In that span, the Gusties have gone 9-3 against the Royals, averaging 65.5 points to the opposition's 55.5. Four of those nine wins have come on the road. Kniefel leads the squad with the best scoring efforts against Bethel, combining for an average of 11.0 points per game. She's scored in the double digits in eight of her 12 games against Bethel, and has averaged 17.8 in her last four starts. Baranick has averaged 3.1 assists and 3.0 steals against the Royals in her career, while Kawiecki has hauled in 4.1 rebounds, and Kelly a team-leading 1.3 blocks per game. 

EARLIER THIS SEASON

Then-No. 8 Gustavus dealt Bethel its first and only conference loss of the season, a 73-61 defeat in Arden Hills on Saturday, Feb. 8. 

After dropping a 72-58 decision to the Royals at home on Jan. 18, the Gusties enacted their revenge, shooting 54.2 percent (26-for-48) from the field, their second highest mark of the season, to even the score and move into a tie for first at the top of the conference standings. The victory also snapped a 10-game winning streak for Bethel, which shot 36.2 percent (17-for-47) from the floor, well below the team's average. 

After Quick won the tip, Kelly took a quick attempt from three that fell short, but returned with a steal on the other end of the court and a dish to Kniefel for the Gusties' first points of the game. Kniefel's bucket sparked a 9-0 run for the visitors, which featured an 0-for-4 performance from the Royals. After BU got on the board, the Gusties went just 1-for-4, but still held the edge to close the quarter out 16-6 thanks to four points out of the hands of Kawiecki.

Bethel began to climb its way back into the game in the second quarter, starting with a 7-4 run on 3-for-5 shooting, but the Gusties held their ground, shooting 57.1 percent (8-for-14) in the second frame and out-rebounding the Royals 12-3 for a 36-23 advantage at halftime. 

The Royals matched the Gusties' 23 third quarter points with 22 of their own, nine of which came from the free throw line, but struggled to tame the hot-shooting Gusties, who went 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) after halftime. Kawiecki added a perfect 4-for-4 showing for a 59-45 lead heading into the final quarter.

Bethel out-scored Gustavus 16-14 in the fourth, but it was far too little and far too late to hold onto their undefeated conference record, as Kniefel totaled eight more points to close out the victory, 73-61.

Kniefel led the balanced Gustie offense, which featured five players in double digits, with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. She was 2-for-4 from three-point land and 3-for-4 from the line, and added a team-high five assists with just one turnover. Kawiecki was next with 14, finishing 5-for-7 from the field with a trio of steals and four rebounds. Kelly added 12, while Hauger and Baranick each collected 10. Quick led all players with seven boards, including four on the offensive end of the court. 

SCOUTING THE ROYALS

Bethel finished the regular season 21-4 overall and 17-1 in conference play, dropping its four losses to UW-La Crosse, No. 4 Scranton (Pa.), UW-Stout, and the Gusties. The Royals average 68.2 points per game compared to opponents' 53.6 (+14.6 margin). Bethel has shot 42.8 percent this season, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Royals are averaging 38.8 rebounds, 14.3 assists, and 16.7 turnovers per game. 

In the MIAC, Bethel ranks second in scoring margin (+14.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.428), opponent field goal percentage (.352), three point defense (.258) and three-point shooting (.330), marks that are all behind the league-leading Gusties. Bethel is also third in points allowed (53.6 ppg), free throw shooting (.727), assist/turnover ratio (0.86), and steals (10.31 spg). Bethel leads the league in combined team rebounds (38.8 rpg), rebounding margin (+7.5 rpg), defensive rebounds (26.7 rpg), and blocked shots (5.73 bpg). The 5.73 blocks per game ranks fourth in the NCAA. 

Bethel has a trio of players averaging more than 10 points per game in Elly Schmitz (14.3), Anna Garfield (12.0), and Emily Erickson (11.2). Schmitz is shooting 49.2 percent from the field and Garfield 41.6 percent, while Erickson leads the team with a mark of 57.4 this season. Garfield is 41.2 percent from long range, averaging 1.1 three-pointers per contest.  

Schmitz has certainly made her campaign for Defensive Player of the Year, leading the Royals in rebounding (7.4 rpg), blocks (2.2 bpg), and steals (1.9 spg). Colette Duininck has dished out a team-high 93 assists (3.6 apg), and owns a 1.35 assist/turnover ratio. 

THEIR LAST ACTION

The Royals defeated Saint Benedict 79-50 in the MIAC Playoff Semifinals Thursday night, Feb. 27, in Arden Hills. 

The Bennies hung with the Royals step-for-step through the first quarter, out-scoring the No. 1 seed 18-15, tying the score twice in the opening frame before taking their first lead of the game off a three-pointer at 16-15. Bethel kicked it into gear in the second quarter after the Bennies evened the score once more at 22-22, going on a 22-0 run in the final six minutes before halftime to pull away on their home court. 

Saint Ben's grabbed nine points off turnovers after the break and matched Bethel's 16-point fourth quarter, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the double-digit deficit, as the Royals claimed a 29-point victory at the Robertson Center. 

Bethel matched its season high, shooting 57.4 (31-for-54) from the floor, including a 12-for-15 (80 percent) performance in the second quarter. The Royals held the Bennies to a mark of 19-for-62 (30.6 percent) and shot 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range and 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the line. 

Four Royals scored in the double digits, led by Schmitz and Erickson with 14 points each, followed by Lydia Hay's 13 and 10 for Garfield. Schmitz shot 6-for-7 in just 20 minutes of play, completing the double-double with 13 rebounds and collecting five blocks at the rim, while Erickson went 6-for-8 with four rebounds and a pair of blocks off the bench.