ST. PETER -- Hilary Groothuis scored a game-high 24 points, but a slow start was too hard for Ridgewater to overcome as the Lady Warriors fell 62-54 Tuesday to the Gustavus JV team.
Ridgewater (9-10) fell behind 31-18 at halftime and trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half. The Lady Warriors did piece together a rally to get within four, but they then missed "five or six" free throws in a row while the Gusties pulled away. Gustavus also beat Ridgewater 52-45 on Nov. 27 in Willmar.
"We fought back and played hard, but we have to figure out how to play right away," said Ridgewater coach Carrie Ogdahl.
Groothuis, a 6-foot freshman post from Maynard (MACCRAY), made 11 field goals and was 2-for-3 at the free-throw line. As a team Ridgewater was only 11-for-21 from the charity stripe. Melissa Sterkel, a sophomore win from Plainview, Neb., followed Groothuis with eight points.
Ridgewater will look to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday when it plays Riverland at 1 p.m. in Austin.
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Gustavus JV 62, Ridgewater 54
Ridgewater (9-10) 18 36 -- 54
Gustavus JV 31 31 -- 62
RIDGEWATER - 20 FG (3 3-pt); 11-21 FT; rebounds not available; 24 fouls ... Scoring: Kayla Karnes 2 1-4 6, Kristen Hegna 1 0-0 3, Ashley Olson 2 2-4 6, Bridget Boehlke 3 0-0 7, Melissa Sterkel 1 6-8 8, Hilary Groothuis 11 2-3 24 ... 3-point shots: Karnes 1, Hegna 1, Boehlke 1 ... Rebound, assist and steal leaders not available
GUSTAVUS JV - 19 FG (5 3-pt); 19-29 FT; rebounds not available; 15 fouls ... Scoring: Brown 2 0-2 4, Bryson 3 0-1 6, Steffenhagen 1 2-3 5, Anderson 4 6-8 16, Teigen 2 8-11 12, Driscoll 6 2-2 16, Vandelanotte 1 1-2 3 ... 3-point shots: Steffenhagen 1, Anderson 2, Driscoll 2 ... Rebound, assist and steal leaders not available
