<n Mileusnic ’10 tallied nine points and snatched 10 rebounds, nearly recording her second career double-double, in a 51-46 Knights (7-8, 6-6 MIAC) victory over Gustavus Aldophus on Wednesday. This victory avenged a 77-53 loss to the Gusties in early December when the Knights were playing without Sarah Lincoln.
Early on, Carleton confused and frustrated Gustavus, who missed nine of their first ten shots, with its 1-3-1 zone. As a result, Coach Tammy Metcalf-Filzen’s team jumped out to a 12-3 lead. However, with improved three-point shooting, the Gusties scored the last ten points of the first half and cut the Knights’ lead to one point, 26-25.
After several lead changes, Gustavus led 40-36 with nearly 10 minutes left in the game. From that point, it was complete Knights domination. Carleton improved its defensive intensity and was rewarded with a 10-0 run. The Knights never looked back and secured a 51-46 win.
Coach Filzen’s team had 50 total rebounds and a staggering 21 offensive rebounds. The Knights’ defense was also quite impressive since Gustavus shot 19.4 percent from behind the arc (6-31).
In addition to Mileusnic’s success, sophomore Ally Weaver accumulated 13 points and calmly nailed two critical free throws at the end of the game. Freshman phenom Megan Erlandson handled the Gusties’ ball pressure well all night, and she chipped in eight points. Continuing her strong play, Hannah Oken-Berg ’09 had three blocks, one of which prevented the Gusties from tying the game with 37 seconds left.
The win over Gustavus helped the Knights rebound from a disappointing loss to the Bethel Royals, a team that snapped a 22 game losing streak to the Knights by defeating Carleton 59-52 last Monday. In that loss, senior Sarah Lincoln’s 18 points and 9 rebounds were not enough to overcome the Knights shooting woes as they shot an ice cold 31.6 percent.
Perhaps the Knights’ best game this week was a 56-55 victory over a tough Macalester squad. Five minutes into the second half, Carleton was down seven points. However, the scrappy Knights climbed their way back into the game, and a Mileusnic three-pointer tied the contest at 53-53 with about four minutes left. Still, after all that effort, Carleton was still down 55-54 with 8.9 seconds left in the game. That was until Annie Isler ’09 received the ball. After receiving the inbounds pass, Isler cut through a sea of players and found just enough space to nail a game-winning 15-footer with three seconds in the game.
The Knights will continue a four-game home stretch against the St. Benedict Blazers on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. You can watch the Knights in person or on Knights Online.