Mar 8, 2025
“What’s so great about Gustavus women’s basketball is anybody can have a good night and we’ll win. All of us are pretty even scoring, all of us are usually in that 9 to 10 range, and I think that that’s what makes us so good. We are so balanced that other teams — if they stop one person, we have these other four that can contribute.” – Sydney Hauger, Gustavus Adolphus College fifth-year senior
ST. PETER — Sydney Hauger, Springfield High School’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball, has continued her successful basketball career after graduating Springfield in 2020 with 2,219 career points.
But throughout her now five seasons of college basketball with the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s basketball team, Hauger’s role on the court and in the huddle has changed.
The days of expecting to see the 5-8 guard put 25 or 30 points on the board every night have passed. What hasn’t gone away for Hauger, however, are the wins.
In her fifth and final year of college basketball, Hauger and her Gusties are having the best season in program history. Entering this year’s National Tournament, the Gusties were ranked fifth nationally in Division III with a 26-1 record.
Hauger’s point production may be down from her Springfield days, but that’s not a knock on her. With the talent the Gusties have this season, the points naturally spread out.
The Gusties women’s basketball team won the regular season MIAC championship for the third year in a row on Feb. 22 and earned their fourth consecutive MIAC tourney appearance in the process. Hauger, No. 10, and the Gusties are pictured above after clinching the MIAC regular season title for the third year in a row on Feb. 22.
“What’s so great about Gustavus women’s basketball is anybody can have a good night and we’ll win,” Hauger said. “All of us are pretty even scoring, all of us are usually in that 9 to 10 range, and I think that that’s what makes us so good. We are so balanced that other teams — if they stop one person, we have these other four that can contribute. I think another part of my game that I’ve been focusing on is my defense and not everything is about scoring necessarily. And again, that’s what’s so great about our team right now, we’re all so balanced, which makes us good.”
Following this year’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Tournament, fifth-year senior Emma Kniefel led the Gusties in scoring with 15.1 points per game, followed by Hauger (9.3), Kylie Baranick (9.2 ppg), Rachel Kawiecki (8.7 ppg) and Morgan Kelly (7.7 ppg).
Hauger, who came off the bench for the Gusties her first three seasons, shifted into the starting lineup the past two years. Being a starter and leader for the Springfield Tigers varsity team for four years, taking a step back right away in college was a challenge at first for Hauger.
“It was a really big adjustment, but I think what was really important for me was having the mindset that everybody in college is good and you just need to kind of figure out what your role is on the team,” Hauger said. “For the first couple of years for me, that was coming off the bench, playing hard, giving everything that I possibly could give to the team and being a good teammate. I think my first year was really hard for me, but also since that first year wasn’t super real and we didn’t have a ton of games, it was a good transition for me to kind of ease into it.”
Hauger said during her time at Gustavus, she’s learned how to be an even better teammate and has developed more confidence in her shot thanks to former Gusties assistant women’s coach Dan Wolfe, who retired after last season.
“I’ve always been a good teammate, but I feel like I’m better at lifting people up and including everybody in the game,” Hauger said. “And I feel like I’ve just been a more confident shooter and I feel like I owe my confident shooting to Wolfie. … Coach [Dan] Wolfe, he’s from New Ulm, and he would shoot with me before every game and I think he just really got me into this mindset that every time I shoot it, it’s going to go in. I was confident in high school, but I feel like I’m way more confident in my shot and attacking in college.”
Hauger’s first year of college basketball of course came in 2020, which saw Gustavus play just seven games in a shortened season due to COVID. While Hauger attended Gustavus for nursing and public health, she didn’t expect her studies to cross over to the basketball court as much as it did her first year.
“The first year was super interesting with COVID,” Hauger said. “We were put into small groups and we were only allowed to practice with certain people, so if one group got sick, the rest of the people wouldn’t have to sit out. It was very interesting. When we would come in and shoot, we were only allowed to shoot at a basket by ourselves, there couldn’t be more than one person at a basket.
“It was just really hard to know what college basketball was really like because we weren’t really playing up and down with each other. With people getting sick and being quarantined, there were certain people I really didn’t play with, which was crazy to think about. If you’re on the same team, you think you’re going to be playing with everybody that’s on your team and that’s just not how it was.”
As things got back up to speed the following season, the Gustavus women’s basketball team also got back up to speed as they won the MIAC Tournament to advance to the NCAA DIII National Tournament. They fell to Simpson 73-67 in the National Tournament to finish the season 22-5 overall, but it was just the start of a long and successful run for Gustavus.
“My first year and even my second year as a sophomore, we were very young,” Hauger said. “The people that were playing were sophomores, but really we were like freshmen because we didn’t get our first year. But we weren’t supposed to be very good. I just remember at the beginning of the season, we were just talking like, ‘You know what, we’re not supposed to be very good, so let’s just go out there and have fun.’ Then we ended up winning the MIAC playoffs that year and I think that’s when we realized like, ‘Hey, we’re really good and if we keep putting the work together, this is how it’s going to be every year.’
“And so I would say definitely at first we didn’t think we would be anything special, we were very young, not experienced. And now I feel like it’s become this expectation. It’s expected that we win the MIAC and we win the playoffs and go to the tournament. So I think that’s kind of cool to think about, where we started and where we are now. Now our goals are much higher.”
The 2022-23 season saw the Gusties win the MIAC tourney again and win a first-round National Tournament game against Ohio Wesleyan before falling to UW-Whitewater in a second National Tournament game, ending the season 26-3 overall.
Last season the Gusties won the MIAC tourney for the third year in a row to advance to the National Tournament for the third consecutive season. There, the Gusties fell to Trine 61-58 in double overtime to finish the season 25-3.
Last Saturday, the Gusties won the MIAC championship for the fourth consecutive year with a 66-53 win over Bethel University. Bethel was ranked No. 24 in the nation entering the game and the Gusties’ win earned them another trip to the National Tournament. Hauger had 10 points and four steals in the win.
“It feels amazing to win four conference playoff championships in a row,” Hauger said. “It’s honestly just a reflection of how hard we’ve worked as a team together. Each MIAC title has been special in its own way. As a team we are proud of what we’ve accomplished, but I think it’s about more than just the wins. We’ve had our share of challenges, but we’ve kept growing and pushing each other every year. I’m just really grateful to be part of such an incredible team. Like I’ve said before, we are such a tight-knit group of basketball players who loves to work hard. It’s special.”
As for when her time in basketball is over, Hauger is already getting to work in her career field.
“I actually currently work in New Ulm at Allina, at the medical center, as a med-surg nurse,” Hauger said. “So I work there on the weekends when I want, I work casual, so I’m a registered nurse and then my second degree I’m doing right now is public health. … I absolutely love it there.”
Note: The DIII Women’s Basketball National Tournament began Friday, March 7, and the Gusties hosted Wisconsin Lutheran in the first round. This article was completed and sent to press before the results of Friday’s game. Results for the game can be found by visiting gogusties.com.
The Big South Conference released its 2024-2025 All-Conference Boys Hockey Team on Friday, with two Eagles …
The Valley Division of the Tomahawk-Valley Conference released its All-Conference team for the 2024-2025 season on …
ST. PETER — The No. 5 Gustavus Gusties women’s basketball team earned a 61-49 overtime win over Wisconsin …
MANKATO – Top-seeded Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Knights survived a back-and-forth Section 2A girls basketball title …
Copyright © The Journal | https://www.nujournal.com | 303 N. Minnesota St., New Ulm, MN 56073 | 507-359-2911
