Sophomore guard kali olstad (elgin, minn.) connected on five three-point field goals in seven attempts to score a team-high 15 points in 23 minutes off the bench to spark an 88-60 victory for concordia university (3-0) over the university of incarnate word (1-3) on friday evening at the emarald beach holiday inn turkey shootout hosted by texas am kingsville. Concordia used an 18-1 first half run and a 17-0 second half run to take control of the game.

k.olstad wasn’t the only player to catch fire off the bench as junior forward jessica tewes (hudson, wis.) was 6-7 from the floor, scoring 12 points in 15 minutes to help ignite the golden bear offense.

the first half started slowly for concordia as incarnate word pulled out an early 13-8 lead just over five and a half minutes into the contest.

that's when tewes went to work on uiw, scoring three consecutive buckets to spark the 18-1 run that was capped off by a three-pointer by k.olstad.

the golden bear run spanned 3:55, and put concordia ahead 26-14 with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half.

the run wasn't over, immediately after uiw’s keisha greenwood snapped the run, k.olstad buried another three to put the golden bears up by 13, 29-16.

“kali (olstad) and (jessica) tewes really sparked us in the first half,â€? head coach paul fessler said of the instant offense off the bench. €œthey really got things going on the offensive end and that carried over to the rest of the team.â€?

uiw wouldn't go away, however, as kim robinson's three-pointer started an 8-0 run that was put to a stop by senior guard mary schroeder (minneapolis, minn.) who delivered a clutch three-pointer to push the lead back to eight, 32-24. Schroeder finished with seven points in just 16 minutes.

incarnate word would cut the deficit to three, 36-33 with just over three and a half to play in the half and the two teams traded baskets for nearly three minutes.

concordia's once commanding lead was now just 40-37 with :49 in the half until a layup by junior forward candace olstad (elgin, minn.) pushed it back to five.

after a defensive stop highlighted by a whitney smetana (sr., c, merrifield, minn.) block and a defensive rebound off two missed free throws, k.olstad knocked down another three-pointer, this time with just four seconds to play until the break. The shot before the buzzer gave concordia a 45-37 lead at the half.

“kali's three-pointer was a huge catalyst for the team,â€? fessler continued on the performance of the bench in the first half. €œthat shot was huge and we carried the momentum into the second half.â€?

kali olstad was deadly in the first half, hitting 4-5 from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 12 points. Tewes, meanwhile, did her damage just as efficiently, posting a perfect 3-3 from the field for six points. All six points by tewes started the big run for concordia. Senior point guard katie laviolette (manitowoc, wis.) dished out nine first half assists and would finish with a season-high 14 while scoring six (3-4 fg) and grabbing five rebounds.

the momentum built for the second half was set in motion as the golden bears turned a 57-43 lead with just under 16 minutes to play in the game into an insurmountable 33 point lead after a 17-0 run that spanned 4:38, giving concordia a 76-43 lead with 10:10 to play.

concordia shot an impressive 60.0% (36-60) from the floor with no one attempting more than senior center amanda behnke's (eagan, minn.) nine shots. Behnke finished 5-9 from the field, scoring 12 points with five rebounds in just 24 minutes.

concordia also shot 64.3% (9-14) from three-point range, led by k.olstad (5-7) while sophomore guard jamie jones (mounds view, minn.) added a 2-3 effort from long range and finished with eight points, five rebounds and three steals.

five players reached double-figures in scoring while three more players had at least six points. Five players also had at least five rebounds with c.olstad and smetana each posting team-highs with six. Smetana also had two blocked shots. kelly lund (sr., g, new brighton, minn.) was the fifth player in double-digits with 12 points on 5-7 shooting in 19 minutes.

the defense was also stout for cu, holding incarnate word to 32.7% (23-70) shooting from the field and 27.3% (6-22) shooting from three-point range. Concordia also outrebounded uiw 43-32 including a decisive 32-15 edge on the defensive glass.

the golden bears will look to defend their perfect 3-0 start tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. When they battle st. Mary's (tx) university in their final game of the emarald beach holiday inn turkey shootout.

box score - cu 88, incarnate word 60