The starting five for concordia scored 53 points as the golden bears (6-7, 3-1 nsic) used strong second half execution to defeat the university of mary (6-8, 2-3 nsic) 60-50 on friday evening at the gangelhoff center. The bears outscored the marauders 36-23 in a solid second half to pick up their fourth consecutive victory.

three of cu's five starters: candace olstad, mary schroeder, amanda behnke photo by whitney pitra

in the first-ever meeting between the two programs, the golden bears jumped out to a quick 15-0 start, holding the marauders scoreless for the first 7:40.

but when u-mary scored their first field goal at 12:20 they turned the tables on the golden bears as they came back with a 23-4 run over the next 6:34 to take a 23-19 lead.

the marauders held a three point halftime lead over the bears, 27-24.

the teams continued to battle for the upper hand, but it was concordia who made the first run, scoring seven unanswered points to pull ahead by six, 43-37 at the 10:05 mark.

after u-mary cut the gap back to one with the next five points, concordia used an 8-0 run to go up 51-42 with just 5:25 remaining.

the marauders would cut the gap to five, but would get no closer as the bears executed down the stretch.

candace olstad put in her third double- double of the year photo by w.pitra

sophomore forward candace olstad put up her second double-double of the year, leading concordia with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She was 6-12 from the field and had a pair of blocks.

katie laviolette dished six assists for the bears photo by w.pitra

two other players reached double-digits for concordia, junior guards kelly lund and katie laviolette who had 12 and 11 points, respectively. Lund also had four rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal while shooting 4-7 from the field and 3-3 at the line.

laviolette, who came into the game third in the nation averaging 8.25 assists per game, finished with six assists, five rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes. She has totaled at least five assists in all 13 games for concordia this season.

sophomore amanda behnke, who had averaged 25.0 points and 8.8 rebounds over the previous five games, finished with nine points and nine rebounds but capitalized on the marauder double-teams by dishing out five assists. She also had three steals and two blocks.

mary schroeder had eight points for cu photo by w.pitra

the fifth starter for the bears, junior guard mary schroeder, added eight points and four rebounds with an assist, a block and a steal.

concordia struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 28.1% (23-60) but turned it around in the second half with a 50.0% (14-28) effort to finish 38.3% from the floor. The cu defense locked down u-mary, who finished just 33.9% (20-59) from the floor for the contest.

the golden bears look to continue their winning streak tomorrow evening when they host #12 northern state at 6 p.m.

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