ST. PETER, Minn. – The Macalester College women's basketball team stayed with defending MIAC champions Gustavus Adolphus College before losing, 63-48 Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court. The Scots are now 1-13 overall and 0-8 in conference play, while the Gusties improve to 9-6, 5-3 MIAC.

Gustavus scored the first eight points of the game en route to taking a 16-11 lead after one quarter. The advantage grew to as many as 15 points before the Gusties took a 35-21 lead into the halftime break. The hosts outscored the Scots in the paint, 16-0 and tallied eight second-chance points in the first half.

The third quarter belonged to the Scots, who used a 16-6 run to cut the deficit to four, 41-37 with 2:19 on the clock. Junior guard Mary Daley (Cumberland, R.I./Bishop Feehan) scored four points and junior guard Sydnee Smith (Gainesville, Va./Patriot) hit a three-pointer in the run, which was capped by a basket from senior forward Brooke Boroughs (Monroe, Wash./Monroe). Gustavus answered with a three by Peyton Stevermer, and the teams exchanged free throws to make the score 45-38 at the end of the quarter. The Gusties put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, pushing the lead up to as many as 17 before closing out the 63-48 win.

Smith led Macalester with 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Sophomore forward Cady Davis (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt) had eight points, sophomore guard Samantha Smith (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) scored seven points, and Daley finished with five points and five rebounds. Ella Peters led all players with 20 points to pace the Gusties.

The Scots host Concordia in a MIAC game on Wednesday, Jan. 21. The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m. in the Leonard Center.