University of St. Thomas Athletics
6-1,3-1MIAC
Gustavus Adolphus
6-1,3-0MIAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gust. Adolphus | 12 | 19 | 14 | 17 | 62 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 19 | 6 | 19 | 13 | 57 |
Women's Hoops rally falls short in first loss of season
12/7/2019 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Caitlin Rorman had 20 points and seven rebounds and visiting Gustavus outscored No. 6-ranked St. Thomas 32-9 from 3-point range and at the foul line in Saturday's 62-57 win at Schonecker Arena.
The Gusties (6-1 overall, 3-0 MIAC) snapped the Tommies' 77-game win streak against conference opponents dating back 1,428 days until early January 2016, a 80-60 home loss to Bethel.
Coach Laurie Trow's Gusties also ended St. Thomas' 29-game home win streak, and halted their program's 23-game losing streak to St. Thomas. The Gusties were 0-13 in the new Schoenecker Arena at the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex over nine seasons before pulling out the close victory on Saturday.
The game was tied 54-54 in the final 4:00, but the Gusties used a game-closing 8-3 run highlighted by strong defense to take the victory.
The Tommies (6-1, 3-1) were outscored 18-3 from 3-point range and made 6-of-7 free throws to 14-of-20 made by the Gusties. The Toms outrebounded GAC 32-26 and had a 19-14 edge in bench points, but had 21 turnovers. They sank just 1-of-11 from behind the arc, far below their 45-percent season clip coming in.
Brynne Rolland had a game-best 21 points plus five boards, and freshman guard Madi Schirmer had a career-best 11 points off the bench for the Tommies.
St. Thomas played its fourth consecutive game without injured standout Kaia Porter, one of the two juniors on a roster with no seniors. Of Saturday's 57 points, 52 came from freshmen and sophomores.
Coach Ruth Sinn's Tommies had 20-0 runs in the regular-season and playoffs each of the last three years in the conference. After the Bethel loss the 2015-16 team won their last 14 against league foes to start the streak, and after a 60-0 run over the next three seasons, started this season with three conference wins in recent weeks.
