Concordia point guard Desirae Jones (Minneapolis, Minn.) racked up a career-high 23 points to lead the Golden Bears past Minnesota Duluth in the opening round of the North Central Regional Tournament by the score of 73-54 Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center.

In a rematch of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship, the Golden Bears caught fire early. Jennifer Pozzani's (Beloit, Wis.) layup midway through the half capped a 14-2 run, giving CU a 25-14 lead. Jones led all scorers at the half with nine points, including a pair of three pointers. For the Bulldogs, Natalie Hopkins had six points and seven first-half rebounds. Concordia forced 14 first-half turnovers while committing only five and converting 3-of-8 from downtown. The Bulldogs were 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first session, which ended with CU having a 31-21 lead.

For umd, Lindsey Dietz was the only player to reach double digits with 10 points, and Natalie Hopkins led all players with 10 rebounds. The Golden Bears came out blazing in the second half, posting a 13-5 run, capped by Jones's fourth triple of the night. UMD got within 12 at 44-32 on a Katie Pavlich layup, but an 11-0 run by CU, highlighted by back-to-back Rikiee Ellis (St. Paul, Minn.) layups, put the Golden Bears up 55-32 with 10:12 to play. From there, the top-seeded Golden Bears cruised to the regional semifinals in only their second win over UMD in the last 13 meetings.

Sophomore Ashley Smith (Cottage Grove, Minn.) connected on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in a 13-point performance. Junior Carly Christensen finished with 11 points and four boards.

The Bulldogs held an advantage in rebounding (44-34) and second chance points (17-5). However, the Bears forced 24 turnovers, committing only 15, and converted 28 points off turnovers, compared to UMD's 14.

Concordia will square off against defending national champion South Dakota State (24-6) Saturday, March 13th at the Gangelhoff Center for a bid to the NCAA Regional finals.