ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Golden Bear women's basketball team (7-17, 4-14 NSIC) will host their last pair of home games this weekend when they face Winona State (13-9, 9-9 NSIC) on Friday night and Upper Iowa (2-22, 0-18 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon. Saturday's contest will also be Senior Day for CSP, as they honor their team's two seniors, Haydn Becker and Kayla Miller.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears travelled north last weekend to face St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. CSP fell in both contests, as both opposing teams found ways to pull away in the second half of each game.
 
On February 2^nd, against St. Cloud, CSP posted higher field goal and three-point percentages, but the Huskies got to the free-throw line 22 times, hitting 17 of those attempts, compared the Concordia's four points from the line. The Huskies also held a 17-10 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Junior Hanna Vidlund was the leading scorer for the Bears in the game, scoring an efficient 16 points, going six of nine from the floor and three of five from three. Center Lindsay Dorr was the other Golden Bear to finish in double digits, scoring 14, while also tallying nine rebounds and four blocks.
 
Against Minnesota Duluth, the Bulldogs connected on 43.1% of their shots from the field, including 38.5% of their shots from three. The Bears posted more modest percentages, with a 30.2% field goal percentage, and only connecting on 15.8% of their three-point attempts. CSP did, however, shot more consistently from the line, draining nine out of ten attempts. Minnesota Duluth held a 41-30 rebounding advantage, which helped them score 13 more points off of second chances than the Bears.
 
Dorr scored 12 in the contest and was the top scorer for the Bears. Junior Kayla Miller was not far behind Dorr, finishing with nine points. Haydn Becker was a force on the boards all weekend, collecting seven boards in each contest.
 
WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears are 29-18 against the Warriors since starting to play them in 1977. From February 2007 to February 2011 Concordia defeated Winona State in each of their meetings, leading to an eight game win streak for the Bears. Since then, smaller win streaks have gone back and forth between the two teams. Last season, CSP defeated Winona on December 10^th, 2016 which broke a five game losing streak for the Bears against the Warriors.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSU
Earlier this season, the Bears were defeated 62-43 in Winona on December 9^th, 2017. The first quarter of the game went back-and-forth, as the biggest lead of the quarter was three, held by the Warriors after two and a half minutes of play. Winona broke the game open in the second quarter, going on an 11-2 run in the first six minutes. The Bears were held to only six points that quarter and headed into halftime down ten. The Warriors scored the first seven points of the second half, which extended their lead to 17. In the fourth quarter, a three from freshman Ayla Lemke got the game within 12 with seven minutes left to play, but Winona answered and put the game out of reach, going on to win 62-43.
 
The Bears did not shoot well in the contest, only hitting 28.1% of their field goals, including connecting on only 12.9% of three-pointers. The Warriors, however, shot 45.8% from the field and 23.1% from three to help lift them to victory.
 
Dorr was the only Bear to reach double figures in the contest, finishing with ten points. Lemke was the top rebounder, compiling seven boards, and had the second most points, with seven.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State is 13-9 on the year and an even 9-9 in conference play. The team has lost their last eight straight, most recently against Minnesota State and Northern State. In their game against Minnesota State, it took four overtimes to decide a winner, which is the longest game played in NSIC history.
 
The Warriors are averaging 66.5 points per game, while posting a solid .433 field goal percentage while holding their opponents to a .395 percentage. Winona also tends to shoot better from three than their opponents, shooting .346 from beyond the arc, compared to their opponents' .310. The team averages 34.8 boards per game and one less turnover per game than their opponents.
 
Winona returns seven players and adds six new players to their young roster that features only four juniors or seniors. Senior forward Hannah McGlone is the team's top scorer, averaging 14.0 points per game. McGlone also has a strong presence on the boards, averaging 10.1 rebounds per game, which is second highest in the conference. Freshman guard Allie Pickrain is also averaging double figures, with 12.6 points per game, while also leading her team in assists with 2.8 per game.
 
UPPER IOWA SERIES HISTORY
The Bears own a solid 22-4 all-time record against the Peacocks, but are 3-3 in their past six meetings. CSP started playing Upper Iowa in 2005, and in their first twenty matchups, the Bears were an impressive 19-1, only losing once in 2012.
 
LAST MEETING VS UIU
The Bears and Peacocks met earlier this season and CSP was on the winning end of a 67-59 decision. In the contest, CSP was outscored in three out of the four quarters, but had a massive 27-point second quarter that proved to be crucial to the win.
 
Upper Iowa hit a last-second three at the end of the first to go up by four after the first ten minutes. The Bears took over in the second, though, going on a 13-2 run in the middle of the quarter and eventually outscoring the Peacocks 27-11 to lead by 12 at halftime. To start the second half, Concordia went on a 7-2 run to stretch their lead to 17. Upper Iowa answered, scoring seven straight points to get the game back within striking distance. The Peacocks kept chipping away and got the game within four with four minutes left in the game, but the Bears held strong, never giving up the lead, going on to win by eight.
 
Both teams shot above 40% from the field and from three, but the Bears capitalized on 19 free points from the charity stripe. Junior Anna Schmitt led the Bears offensively, scoring a game-high 25 points. Miller and freshman Ellie Gess joined her in double figures, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.  
 
ABOUT THE PEACOCKS
The Peacocks are 2-22 on the year and 0-18 in the conference. The team has lost their last 20 games straight, most recently falling to Northern State and MSU Moorhead. The game against Northern State was a particularly close one, as the score was tied ten times and the lead changed hands 12 different times. Northern State pulled out the victory though, winning by two, 68-66, in Fayette, Iowa.
 
Upper Iowa averages 52.8 points per game, which is, on average, 19.3 less than their opponents. The Peacocks have posted a .323 field goal percentage, while allowing their opponents to shoot .418 from the field. On average, Upper Iowa finishes with 5.5 more turnovers and 5.1 less rebounds than their adversaries.
 
The Peacocks return nine players from last year's roster, including their leading scorer from 2016-17, Blair Klostermann. The junior guard leads Upper Iowa again this season, averaging 12.3 points per game. Other top scorers for the Peacocks include freshman Natalie Dinius at 9.4 points a game and grad student Angelica DePaulo with 7.4 points per game. Junior forward Haley Martin is the team's top rebounder, averaging 5.4 boards per game.
 
KEY STATS
-Junior Anna Schmitt leads the Bears in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game, which is second most in the conference, behind only Miranda Ristau of Northern State, who is averaging 19.4 points a game. Schmitt's 19.1 point average is 31^st in the country.
-Schmitt also ranks second in the NSIC (17^th in the country) in free-throw percentage (.902), 11^th in three-point percentage (.408), sixth in threes made (1.9), and ninth in minutes played (31.8).
-Junior Hanna Vidlund scored a team-high 16 points against St. Cloud, hitting six of nine from the field, and three of five from behind the arc.
-Junior Lindsay Dorr averaged 13.0 points over the weekend, while also averaging 6.0 boards and 3.0 blocks.
-Haydn Becker put together a solid rebounding effort on the weekend, securing seven boards in each game.