Denny Weller
ST PETER — Brianna Radtke doesn’t mind being the centerpiece of a Gustavus Adolphus women’s basketball team primed for a run at a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.
The 5-foot-7, senior from Lester Prairie has developed into one of the premier point guards in the conference by putting in countless hours honing her skills. Radtke averaged 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists during last year’s 16-10 campaign.
“Bri came here at a time when we needed a point guard,” Gustavus coach Mickey Haller said. “It was great timing for both of us.
“She has that incredible competitive aspect that we like to see out there. She sees the court very well, she’s mature and she handles pressure very well. Her teammates know they can look to her to get things done.”
Radtke’s numbers have steadily increased over the past three seasons and there’s no reason why that won’t continue when the Golden Gusties open their season Saturday at Augustana College.
“I played golf and basketball my freshman year but then I started to focus only on basketball,” Radtke said. “It was tough at first adjusting to the physicality of the conference. I’ve gotten a lot stronger by working hard in the weight room while also shooting and dribbling year around.”
Radtke isn’t the lone reason the Gusties are hopeful of making it back to the Division III national tournament after missing out for the first time in three seasons a year ago. Three other starters — senior post Katie Layman, senior forward Julia Schultz and sophomore guard Molly Geske —- return, as do top reserves Molly Mathiowetz and Brittany Holm.
“We’re finally mature,” Haller said. “We feel we have an experienced squad and we’re looking for big things out of this team. We really focus on defense and play a pretty high-octane defense where we like to get up in people’s faces.”
Layman, who like Radtke has started each game the past three years, averaged 7.7 and 3.9 rebounds per contest last season.
Mathiowetz, a 6-foot junior from Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, provided instant offense off the bench last year, averaging 8.1 ppg while grabbing 4.4 boards an outing.
Gustavus’ top newcomer is 6-2 freshman wing Abby Rothenbuehler, a former standout at Mankato West. With all that talent, there’s plenty of optimism in Radtke’s voice.
“We have the potential to do great things and I think we all know that, it’s just going to take hard work and focus while still having fun out there,” Radtke said. “I think we’re fundamentally sound, we just have to focus on doing the little things right.... We’ve definitely got a special team this year.”
