RIVER FALLS, Wis. - Coming off a berth into the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championships and only graduating one player, the Gustavus women's basketball team started their 2026-27 campaign with a win on Saturday, 60-41, over UW-River Falls.
The Gusties (1-0, 0-0 MIAC) were led by junior
Bella DeHaan (Lakeville, Minn.) in their opening day win over the Falcons (0-1, 0-0 WIAC), contributing 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in 27 minutes of work.
Both teams struggled to find their groove in the first quarter of the season, only scoring 18 combined points. Gustavus was slightly on the upper hand, scoring 10 of those on 23.5 percent shooting from the field. DeHaan registered the first two points of the year for the visitors and after the Falcons hit a three and two minutes of no scoring, she assisted on two consecutive trips down the floor, first dishing one out to senior
Kendyl Queensland (Grand Meadow, Minn.) and classmate
Peyton Stevermer (Mankato, Minn.) for their first points of the season. Senior
Kaitlyn Schaefer (Eagan, Minn.) made the last three points of the quarter for Gustavus as the teams traded baskets, leading 10-8 through the first quarter of the year. Neither team took a free throw in the first quarter and Gustavus attempted 10 three-pointers, just about half of what they would take the whole game. The Gusties led on the glass with two offensive rebounds and eight defensively for a 10-8 margin.
The Gustavus offense sparked in the second quarter, scoring 21 points, their most of any quarter in the contest. An 11-5 run in the first six minutes of the stanza proved to be much of the difference, thanks to four points from DeHaan and junior
Olivia Grothaus (Hudson, Wis.) along with a jumper from Schaefer. 5:49 remaining marked the last field goal the Gusties would give up in the half, ending the half on a 10-3 run with points from DeHaan, Schaefer, sophomore
Chloe Scholl (Alexandria, Minn.) and senior Ava Westernman (Pewaukee, Wis.). The Gusties led the quarter 20-10 and shot 8-for-18 from the field in addition to three free throws. Most of that margin could be attributed to the work on the glass for Gustavus, leading 12-1 overall and 7-0 on offensive rebounds.
After halftime, the third quarter balanced things out from a 31-18 lead for Gustavus down to just an nine-point gap with 10 minutes to play. The score extended to 35-18 thanks to Ronn and Queensland in the first 45 seconds of the half, but after that, UW-River Falls went on a 17-9 run in the remaining nine minutes and change to cut the lead down. A layup, a jumper, and a handful of free throws were all Gustavus could find as they went 2-for-12 from the field after the early two makes.
Gustavus was able to hold on to their lead and move comfortably into the driver's seat, in part due to a 12-1 run in the first five minutes of the quarter. Westerman scored four, Scholl scored three and first-year
Ashley Harrison (Farmington, Minn.) scored her first point in Black and Gold to highlight the run and gave the Gusties a 19-point lead as the clock continued to wind down. After five points from the Falcons, junior
Anna Goodman (Lakeville, Minn.) and senior
Whitley Ronn (Lakeville, Minn.) put the icing on the cake with jumpers to move the final score to 59-41 in favor of Gustavus. The suffocating Gustie defense kept the Falcons to 2-for-15 in field goals in the last quarter and on the other end of the floor, Gustavus went 7-for-13.
Overall, Gustavus shot 36.5 percent from the floor in their season opener and 71.4 percent from the line. The Gusties made a home under the basket with a 39-27 rebounding margin in a game in which 13 of those came on the offensive end as well, helping Gustavus lead for 87 percent of the game and not giving it up after 2:38 in the first quarter.
DeHaan led the team in points, rebounds, and assists with 10, seven, and five, respectively. Ronn and Schaefer also had 10 points and Ronn was one behind DeHaan with six.
Gustavus women's basketball takes to the skies and will travel to Colorado College for matchups against Carnegie Mellon and Willamette next weekend.
