SAINT PETER, Minn. - After an early lead, Gustavus women's basketball was unable to withstand a 17-2 run by Concordia and fell to the Cobbers, 66-59. Juniors
Ella Peters (River Falls, Wis.) and
Peyton Stevermer (Mankato, Minn.) both eclipsed double digits and sophomore
Anna Goodman (Lakeville, Minn.) led with five assists.
Both teams used much of the first quarter as a way to feel each other out, going back and forth for the first half of the quarter. After junior
Whitley Ronn (Lakeville, Minn.) got the scoring going with a driving layup, the Cobbers went on a 9-2 run to take the lead, 9-4. Stevermer then turned the tide and completed the and-one to tie the game at nine. A 5-0 run over a 1:17 stretch late in the quarter helped the Gusties take the lead 14-11, but Concordia ended the quarter with the tying three points. Both teams shot 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from the floor and Gustavus held a slight advantage in rebounding, 7-4.
Concordia got an early layup to bring their run up to five, but the Gusties responded with six points thanks to four by Ronn and a turnaround jumper by Peters to push the lead up to four. Stevermer hit the only three of the first half for the Gusties, bookended by threes by the Cobbers, cutting the Gustavus lead down to one with 2:56 remaining in the half. After the three pointer, the Gusties were able to get back on the front foot, ending the half on a 7-3 run, thanks to three points by Goodman, an
Olivia Grothaus (So., Hudson, Wis.) layup, and a Peters layup with five seconds left.
Gustavus held the advantage again in rebounds, 11-9, and also took an advantage in field goal percentage, shooting a 38.9 percent (7-for-18) clip compared to the Cobbers 28.6 percent (4-for-14), and turnovers, forcing four. Ronn and Peters led the Gusties in the first half with eight points apiece, leading a well-balanced attack to help the Gusties lead 30-25.
After a 1-for-8 three-point performance in the first half, the Gusties got going from beyond the arc, with Peters and junior
Kaitlyn Schaefer (Eagan, Minn.) both hitting threes on the first two trips down the floor to bring the lead up to eight. Two Schaefer free throws extended the lead to 10, the largest of the game to that point. Concordia took the three-point performance of the Gusties and did one better, making three from long range in a 1:43 span, which cut the lead down to three. Goodman, stopped the 9-2 run with a three of her own, but it would prove to be the last of three point makes in the quarter for Gustavus. Concordia ended the quarter on an 11-2 run, going from down six to up three, 50-47, with 10 minutes to play.
A 6-0 Cobber run to start the second half made it a 17-2 run overall and a 56-47 lead and sophomore
Bella Sutch (Blaine, Minn.) got the first two points of the half with free throws, but it took until 3:19 remaining for the Gusties to make a field goal, with Peters making a pull-up jumper. Concordia went on a 5-0 run to push the lead to 12, but the Gusties were not quite done. Goodman lit a spark with a high defensive effort and a driving layup and-one, which was just the start of a 8-0 run, with Grothaus following the same suit and Schaefer making a layup to push Concordia's lead down to four with 52 seconds remaining. It took 14 seconds for the Gusties to catch up to a Cobber to foul and Concordia made free throws down the stretch to close out the game, 66-59.
The Gusties took 20 more shots than the Cobbers and only made two more, putting them at 22-for-46 (33.3 percent shooting). Rebounds were completely even at 30 apiece in a game where there were eight ties and five lead changes, but the Cobbers were able to push past Gustavus in the second half.
The Gusties (12-7, 8-4 MIAC) are back at home on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. to host Saint Benedict (12-7, 7-5 MIAC), which marks National Girls and Women in Sports Day and Youth Night.
