Senior point guard katie laviolette (manitowoc, wis.) converted a lay-up and free throw with 12:42 to play in the first half to give the golden bears their first lead of the game, a 7-5 edge over the bulldogs. #9 concordia university (8-0) would hold the lead the rest of the game as they cruised to a 77-62 win over minnesota duluth (2-8) at romano gymnasium in duluth, minn.

laviolette had one of two double-doubles to help lead the golden bears, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. She played 39 of 40 minutes, had a pair of steals and shot 8-14 from the field and connected on her only three-point attempt and free throw attempt of the contest.

the other double-double went to junior forward candace olstad (elgin, minn.) who scored a game-high 20 points, matching laviolette's shooting performance of 8-14. C.olstad buried 1-3 from long range and 3-4 at the line. She collected 10 rebounds and played 35 minutes.

umd only led in the game three times: 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 and the game was only tied at zero, two and four.

the golden bears began to take control with an 8-1 run to grab a 10-5 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half. Laviolette scored five points during the mini run that was closed out by a kali olstad three-pointer (so., g, elgin, minn.).

concordia continued to slowly build their lead until it reached double-figures for the first time in the game following senior guard kelly lund's (new brighton, minn.) lay-up with just under five minutes to play in the half, pushing the score to 26-15.

the lead swelled to 13, 30-17, moments later but the bulldogs used an 8-0 run to cut the gap back to five, 30-25 around the two minute mark.

laviolette and c.olstad would answer the call and each dropped in baskets to give cu a 34-25 halftime lead.

the golden bear defense was the story of the first half, limiting umd to just 24.2% (8-33) shooting while the offense was efficient at 53.8% (14-26).

the bulldogs would get no closer than eight points down early in the second half as the golden bears pushed the lead as high 20 points. Sophomore guard jamie jones (mounds view, minn.) drained a three with 3:49 to play in the game to give cu a 71-51 lead, their largest of the game.

concordia used a 30-12 second half advantage in points in the paint to seal the victory.

for the game, the golden bears shot 55.2% (32-58) and narrowly out-rebounded the bulldogs 36-34 despite umd's 18-9 edge on the offensive glass.

senior center amanda behnke, who scored just two points in the first half in limited minutes due to foul trouble, finished with 13 points on 5-10 shooting. She made all three of her free throw attempts and had five rebounds.

the golden bears had a decisive 44-22 advantage in the paint in the contest.

three bulldogs scored in double-figures led by kelsey hewitt's 12 points and eight rebounds. Alissa pauly and jenna reinemann each contributed 10 points for umd.

concordia returns to the floor on tuesday, december 18 when they travel to take on #25 minnesota state university in mankato, minn. At 7 p.m.

box score - cu 77, minn. Duluth 62