senior center amanda behnke tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead concordia university (2-0) over northern michigan (0-2) in an 86-66 victory in the wildwood lodge tip-off classic on saturday evening at the gangelhoff center. Behnke's double-double netted her the tip-off classic most valuable player honors.

in the two games, behnke put in an average of 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds to lead concordia to a perfect start to their season, matching their win total through nine games last season.

she wasn't the only golden bear to record a double-double as katie laviolette had 11 points and 10 assists along with a career-high seven steals. She was also named to the five player all-tournament team.

the golden bears started slow, trailing 14-13 nearly five minutes into the game as the wildcats and bears jostled for the lead early.

but a three-pointer by junior forward candace olstad gave concordia a 16-14 lead.

they would never relinquish that lead in cruising to the win.

a 12-2 run just minutes later capped off by a three-pointer by c.olstad's younger sister, sophomore guard kali olstad, gave concordia a commanding 32-19 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first half.

the wildcats would cut into the lead, bringing the deficit to 32-25 but four different players scored on a quick 8-0 run to push the lead back to 15, 40-25 at the three minute mark.

concordia would take a 42-31 lead into the break with c.olstad putting up 10 first half points, behnke totaling nine points and seven rebounds and laviolette adding nine points, four assists and five steals.

in the second half, northern michigan cut the golden bear lead to eight on two occasions, 51-43 with 14:28 and 57-49 with 12:43 but they would come no closer.

c.olstad finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, just a board shy of her second consecutive double-double to start the season. K.olstad added 11 points off the bench and the sisters combined to hit 5-11 from three-point range, sparked by kali's 3-4 effort.

senior guard mary schroeder was the fifth player to reach double-digits for concordia with 10 points.

concordia shot 49.2% (30-61) from the field while holding nmu to 32.8% (20-61) shooting. The golden bears and wildcats were nearly identical at the stripe, with concordia shooting 86.4% (19-22) to nmu's 81.0% (17-21).

concordia held a 43-33 rebounding advantage as well.

the wildcats were led by natalie larocque, who scored 19 points, shooting 5-6 from behind the arc and 4-4 from the free throw line. Allison carroll and cassi rushford each scored 11 as well while kelsey deacon dished out six assists despite 0-6 shooting.

concordia returns to action on nov. 23-24 when they travel to kingsville, texas to compete in the turkey day shootout against incarnate word and st. Mary's university.

the wildwood lodge tip-off classic all-tournament team
mvp - amanda behnke, concordia
katie laviolette, concordia
allison carroll, northern michigan
bonnie johnson, missouri valley
whitney hofer, augustana

box score - cu 86, northern michigan 66