Mar 19, 2025
Photos courtesy of Jordan Modjeski/Gustavus Athletics Gustavus women’s basketball head coach Laurie Kelly hugs Sydney Hauger following a Sweet 16 win over McMurry on March 12 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Hauger scored her 1,000th career point in the win.
ST. PETER — Springfield grad Sydney Hauger’s final game with the Gustavus Gusties women’s basketball team Saturday saw her career end selflessly as she fouled out in the final minute of a DIII Elite Eight game against Smith College.
And despite the Gusties falling 61-50 to end their historic season, Hauger was one of several senior leaders that got to say their collegiate careers had an elite ending.
With the loss to Massachusetts’ Smith College (30-2), the Gusties ended their season with a 29-2 mark, a program record for wins and the first time the women’s program made it to the Elite Eight.
The Gusties, who were ranked fifth nationally, trailed just 30-29 at halftime. Smith, ranked eighth, made a late push and controlled the fourth quarter by outscoring the Gusties 14-6 for a 61-50 win.
This moved Smith on to the Final Four for the third consecutive season.
Photos courtesy of Jordan Modjeski/Gustavus Athletics Gustavus’ Sydney Hauger dribbles the ball whiled guarded by McMurry’s Kylie Flippin during a Sweet 16 National Tournament game on March 12 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
“I think what took us out of the game, this is super not like us, in the first half we had 11 turnovers and we have like 13 usually in a game,” Hauger said. “At the end of the first half, they had a couple step and steals, but I think that was what kind of broke the game in the end. For matchups, I feel like we matched up pretty well against them and I thought that we had a pretty good advantage inside because we have post play and they are kind of more guard-based play to rely on scoring. Most of their guards score, their leading scorer was their shortest 5-3 guard [Ally Landau].”
Landau finished the game with a game-high 22 points.
The Gusties hung around in the game until a cold fourth quarter forced them to foul in the final minute, giving Landau four more free throws to add to Smith’s lead late. Hauger picked up back-to-back fouls in the final minute to help stop the clock and give her team a chance, giving her her fourth and fifth fouls of the game and forcing her to take a seat.
“I don’t think I was emotional until I had to go to the bench,” Hauger said. “There was another senior sitting at the end of the bench waiting for me once I high-five everyone and I don’t think it hit me until I gave her a hug and I had to sit through the last minute of play, which was really hard. I think that’s when all the emotions hit me.”
Gustavus’ big playoff run started after winning the MIAC tournament championship on March 1 on their home court with a 66-53 win over Bethel.
The Gusties then hosted Wisconsin Lutheran in their first game of the NCAA Tournament on March 7, a 61-49 overtime win that gave Gustavus another home tourney game March 8 against Wartburg. The Gusties won that game also 56-50 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history, the first time coming during the 2017-18 season.
The win over Wartburg set Gustavus up for a long trip to Brunswick, Maine, to begin the next round of the tournament. The Gusties left St. Peter around 4 a.m. last Wednesday to catch their flight to Maine, which saw the team split up on two different flight connections. One group had a stop in Chicago, while the other stopped in Dulles, Virginia.
After getting to Maine, Hauger said the team had several team meals and get-togethers at places like Buck’s Naked BBQ & Studio Bar, Antonia’s Pizzeria, Big Top Deli and Bay Bowls.
Despite being split up on their flights until meeting back up in Portland, Maine, the Gusties were fully in sync during their Sweet 16 game against McMurry on March 19 as they won 71-58 at Bowdoin College.
During that win, Hauger finished the game with 12 points and passed 1,000 points for her career at Gustavus with a third-quarter 3.
“I didn’t know how many I needed and they didn’t stop the game, but all the fan section held up these papers with 1,000 on them,” Hauger said.
That 3 saw her join the 1,000-point club for the second time in her basketball career as she did so with the Springfield Tigers in 2018. Hauger went on to score another 1,000-plus points with the Tigers, ending her career in 2020 with a Tigers girls record of 2,219 points.
Hauger said while scoring 1,000 points in college was still a nice accomplishment, she was more worried about getting the win.
“It’s pretty cool, but it’s not something I think about a lot,” she said. “I think more about my team and what we do together and having fun, but it’s just like a little extra added bonus that goes with it.”
While Hauger and the Gusties would like to be in Smith’s place playing a Final Four game Thursday in Salem, Virginia, there is still a lot the team can be proud of. Hauger said getting to the Elite Eight was proof of how good the Gustavus women’s basketball team was.
“When I first started at Gustavus, it was like, ‘OK, our goal is to make it to the National Tournament,’” Hauger said. “And now I feel like we’ve grown so much and our goal this year was to make it to the Sweet 16. I’m super proud of the team and I’m super grateful we got to the Elite Eight. And at that point, in the Elite Eight, all the teams are good, it’s a coin flip for who’s winning these.
“I think a lot of the NCAA and other teams have counted us out because the MIAC hasn’t typically gone far in the National Tournament. I feel like also one of our goals this year was to prove to them that we’re actually a really high quality basketball team. I think it just feels really good to put Gustavus on the map that we are that and we deserve to be here.”
Hauger finished her college career with two MIAC All-Conference selections and 1,013 points, 15th overall in Gustavus women’s basketball history.
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