The seventh-ranked concordia women's basketball team used a 14-27 (51.9%) second-half shooting performance and a 52-33 rebounding advantage to cruise to a 74-59 win over nsic rival #2 wayne state in the first round of the ncaa north central regional friday night in grand forks.

senior nakia carlisle (left) scored a game-high 27 points, making 9-16 from the field. She also had four rebounds in the game.

"they beat us twice this season and we knew we had to come in with some attitude," said carlisle. "from the beginning of the season we knew that we were coming back (to the ncaa tournament).

senior ashley smith recorded her third double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore katie laviolette (right) once again had an all-around performance scoring seven points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out eight assists. Freshman candace olstad also added six points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes of play.

despite turning the ball over 15 times in the first half the bears held a 28-24 lead, thanks to ten points by carlisle and a 27-16 rebounding margin. The bears finished the game with 23 turnovers, while wayne state had 13.

"defensively we played well," said coach fessler. "they didn't hit a lot of their open looks."

the concordia defense limited the wayne offense to 20-68 (29.4%) shooting from the field and only 2-18 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. kristen humphries led wayne state with 22 points and six rebounds.

with the win, the bears improve to 20-10, marking the fifth straight 20-win season for cu. They also advanced to the round of 32 for the third straight year.

#7 concordia will face #3 st. Cloud state saturday, mar. 11th at 6:00 in the betty engelstad sioux center. #1 north dakota will square off with #5 northern state in the other region semifinal game at 4:00.