SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College women's basketball team battled the No. 19 nationally ranked Bethel University Royals at home Saturday afternoon in a conference contest. The Gusties defeated the Royals 78-68 to improve to 6-5 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC.
The two teams battled evenly in the first quarter to 7-7 until Gustavus closed out the period on a 9-0 run to go up 16-7, punctuated by a three from
Kaitlyn Schaefer in the closing seconds.
Through the first three minutes of the second quarter, the Gusties extended their run to 18-0, taking a 25-7 lead on a jumper by
Ella Peters. The Royals found their footing from then on, but Gustavus kept up their momentum to carry a 14-point lead into halftime up 35-21.
The third quarter was the highest-scoring of the game. The two teams combined to score 50 points with Bethel outscoring the Gusties by a slight 26-24 margin. The Royals cut the Gusties lead down to eight points with 3:04 remaining in the period, but Gustavus built their lead back up to 12 with a 59-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Gusties pushed their lead back up to 17 points in the opening minute of the fourth as Schaefer hit another three and Peters made a fastbreak layup to go up 64-47. Bethel started to slowly chip into Gustavus' lead, but the Gusties maintained a double-digit lead until the Royals cut it to nine with just 1:35 remaining. Gustavus finished strong to secure the 78-68 victory.
Schaefer led the Gusties with 23 points, going 7-for-9 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range. Peters followed with 22 points and led Gustavus with seven rebounds.
Anna Goodman had nine points and led the team with six assists and three steals.
Up next for the Gusties is another home game against a MIAC opponent as they host the St. Olaf Oles on Wednesday, January 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Gus Young Court.
