After clinching two big wins out on the West coast, the Gustavus women’s basketball team returned home and was 3-1 in their first four MIAC games. Gustavus posted wins over Hamline and Carleton before falling to St. Thomas, but  ended the week with a win over Augsburg on Wednesday.

The home opener against Hamline University kicked off conference play for the Gusties who started strong with a 63-41 win. After a slow offensive in the first few minutes, Gustavus was able to pick up speed, taking a 28-16 lead at the half and riding that momentum through to the end. Junior Kelsey Florian was the top scorer for Gustavus, picking up 16 points in the victory.

Despite a strong effort, tough competition in St. Paul proved too much to handle as Gustavus fell 69-60 to St. Thomas in their second conference match-up. Three players scored in the double digits for Gustavus but it wasn’t enough to top the hot-shooting Tommies who maintained the lead from start to finish. Florian again led the Gusties in scoring, putting up 14 points off the bench. Senior Captains Molly Geske and Colleen Ruane also had strong performances, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The loss comes early in the season and the team plans to use it as motivation for the next time they meet up with the Tommies.

“St. Thomas is always a big rival of ours, and we hate losing to them,” Geske said. “I think everyone’s looking forward to getting another shot at them.”

The team spent Thanksgiving weekend in warmer climates, notching two victories and some quality team bonding during their California road trip.

“We started our season with a trip to California to play Occidental College and Relands University and came home with two big wins, which really jump started our season,” Senior Captain Liz Shay said.

“Winning both games was awesome and we also did a lot of fun team activities like Universal Studios and a day at the beach,” Geske said.

The first win of the trip came at the expense of Occidental College, ending in a 53-50 victory for Gustavus in Los Angeles Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. Leading the Gusties was Senior Captain Colleen Ruane, scoring 13 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. The women then headed to the University of Redlands Saturday night where they yet again came out on top, outscoring the Bulldogs 63-54. This time Geske led the way, putting up a season-high 20 points.

As the season picks up momentum the Gusties look to use what they’ve learned so far and translate it into a successful season piece by piece.

“Our focus is just on winning one game at a time,” Geske said. “A huge goal for each game is defense, and being the most aggressive team out there.”

“Our team has a lot of experience and as a team full of returners, we have the possibility to do a lot of big things this season. I think we all are excited to see our hard work pay off,”Shay said.

Gustavus will return home to take on the College of St. Benedict on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3:00 p.m. at Lund Center.