Gustavus vs St. Kate's 2-9-11

Back at a familiar spot on this Wednesday night as two of my favorite teams in the MIAC went head to head as host St. Kate's was taking on Gustavus.  Despite the loss to Macalester a week ago, the Gusties had seemingly got their act together while St. Kate's was mired in a seven-game losing streak that it was desperately looking to snap.  And with former Gusties Bri Radtke and Amber Steffenhagen in attendance this night the Gusties were hoping to score a resounding win.

Early on, the Gusties did indeed look hot.  Senior Molly Mathiowetz, on track for an unforgettable night (more on that in a moment) got GAC on the board first at the 19:09 mark.  A bit later, junior Colleen Ruane scored in transition and junior Molly Geske knocked down a short jumper and GAC was quickly up 6-0 before St. Kate's knew what them.  Wildcat senior Sonja Ellingson replied with two quick baskets that narrowed the gap back to two points and would score again at the 15:29 mark.  Then junior guard Megan Zillmer snared the ball away from the Gusties and went coast to coast to score at the 14:58 mark to cut GAC's lead down to 10-8.  Still, the Gusties; deeper, stronger and fresher would get on something of a run beginning at the 12:35 mark when sophomore post Abby Rothenbuehler used her long arms to grab a rebound and finish.  Mathiowetz did more damage for the Gusties twice around the midway point of the first half and then Geske hit "3's" at the 8:36 and 7:38 marks that helped GAC open up a 32-19 lead.  Despite heroics from Ellingson and fellow senior Laura Kalbfell, the Cats were unable to make much of a dent in the Gustie cushion as GAC went into the locker room at the half up 40-31.

The big moment of the game came in the second half when Mathiowetz scored her 1,000th point as a Gustie.  Friends and family of Mathiowetz; all clad in "Whoops, she did it again!" shirts (she also scored 1,000 points during her high school career at Sleepy Eye St. Mary's) all broke out their kazoos and paid tribute to the heroine of the evening for GAC.  After the stoppage in play, GAC methodically controlled the tempo and maintained the double-digit lead that allowed head coach Mickey Haller to unload her bench as GAC coasted to a 77-63 win; thus setting the stage for their big game coming up at home in St. Peter against UST on Saturday.