NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Gustavus women's basketball only allowed 36 points on Wednesday night, the least they have kept an opponent to all season, while the junior class dominated all around for a 73-36 win. The win brings the streak against the Knights to 26 games, the longest against Carleton in the history between the two teams.
In the first quarter, the Gusties got up to a dominant 14-0 run, thanks to the junior class of
Ella Peters (River Falls, Wis.),
Whitley Ronn (Lakeville, Minn.), and
Kaitlyn Schaefer (Eagan, Minn.). Peters got the scoring started and contributed seven, while Ronn made a layup and Schaefer added 5. Gustavus kept Carleton silent from the field until 6:55 into the first frame and continued to find the basket, leading at one point 25-3. The Gusties shot 10-for-17 (58.8 percent) from the field and forced six turnovers to only allow nine shots from the field for the Knights and Carleton only made two. Peters herself had 14 points after the first quarter to lead all scorers after a hot streak of seven points in the back end of the first session.
Fellow junior
Peyton Stevermer (Mankato, Minn.) along with Ronn were responsible for a 10-2 run to start the second quarter and bring the lead to 25. The Gusties scored 17 in the quarter and only allowed nine points, bringing the lead to 42-15 at halftime. Gustavus shot 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) in the second quarter and shot 2-for-5 (40 percent) from three, forced six more turnovers, and only allowed Carleton to go 2-for-9 (22.2 percent).
The third quarter was much of the same for the visiting Gustavus, spending most of the third quarter soaking in the midst of a 13-4 run for the first seven minutes and change of the period. Schaefer got the scoring started with five herself to bring her total to double digits while the Gusties used different scorers after that. Junior
Kendyl Queensland (Grand Meadow, Minn.) contributed four points on the run along with sophomores
Anna Goodman (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Bella Sutch (Blaine, Minn.) sprinkling in makes as well. Sutch scored with six seconds left in the quarter to cap off another leading quarter, putting the score to 59-24 after 30 minutes. Gustavus led on the glass, 11-8, and took six more shots than the Knights in the quarter, which could be attributed to forcing seven turnovers again.
After a few more minutes in the fourth quarter and Peters wrapping up a 20-point night again, head coach
Laurie Kelly was afforded the opportunity to give more experience to players who have not seen the floor as much this season, which resulted in eight more points, all from first-year players.
Lauren Queensland (Grand Meadow, Minn.) scored four points while first-year classmates
Miranda Palmby (Dover, Minn.) and
Chloe Scholl (Alexandria, Minn.) both added two.
As a team, the Gusties shot 31-for-64 (48.4 percent) on the night and only used five makes from the charity stripe to add to their total. They outrebounded the Knights, 44-23 and made 12 second chance points on 18 offensive rebounds. The paint was holy ground for Gustavus, with 38 points coming from the area and as a team had 20 assists on the night. Peters had 20 points to lead the team and added seven rebounds on a night where 15 different players brought down at least one. Goodman dished out five assists as well and Ronn led defensively with three steals and two blocks.
The Gusties (15-7, 11-4 MIAC) are back in action on Saturday at home, hosting St. Catherine (11-11, 6-9 MIAC) at 1:00 p.m. on Gus Young Court.
