The fifth-ranked concordia university (13-0, 4-0 nsic) women's basketball team faced their toughest test of the season as they outlasted northern state (7-7, 3-2 nsic) 60-56 at wachs arena in aberdeen, s.d. To remain undefeated in their closest game of the year.

three-point shooting saved the golden bears as they made as many three's (10) as they did two-pointers. They shot 35.7% (10-28) from behind the arc while posting their worst performance from the field, hitting 36.4% (20-55).

senior point guard katie laviolette's (manitowoc, wis.) lay-up with 5:10 remaining gave the golden bears the lead for good at 49-48, and they brought the lead to five, 53-48 after a jumper by senior guard mary schroeder (minneapolis, minn.).

laviolette made four of five at the stripe down the stretch as the golden bears held off the wolves. She finished with a game-high 17 points, playing all 40 minutes while contributing seven assists, six rebounds and five steals.

concordia started off hot out of the gate with the first five points but northern state countered with a 15-0 run that lasted nearly five minutes when sophomore guard jamie jones (mounds view, minn.) hit a jumper to cut nsu's lead to eight, 15-7.

the wolves lead was pushed back to 10 at 19-9 and that would be the last double-digit lead of the game for either team.

trailing 29-23 with 2:43 to play in the half, the golden bears scored the last five points of the first half when junior forward abby nielsen (maplewood, minn.) connected on a three-pointer and senior center amanda behnke (eagan, minn.) converted a pair of free throws to make it a one point game at the break.

a three-pointer by schroeder with 18:21 to play in the game tied the score at 31 but the wolves managed to get their lead back to eight, 42-34 five minutes later.

that's where the golden bears made their move, scoring ten unanswered points to reclaim the lead for the first time since the 17:03 mark of the first half.

two other players joined laviolette in double-figures as schroeder scored 10 points while nielsen scored 12 off the bench, connecting on 4-7 from behind the arc.

nielsen's 12 points off the bench led a dominant bench effort as concordia outscored northern state 20-2 off the bench.

behnke finished two points shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

although both teams committed only 13 turnovers, the golden bears were able to capitalize while minimizing nsu's effectiveness, outscoring them 22-6 off turnovers.

the wolves were led by noelle hall, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds while jaclyn arns had 16 points and six rebounds and jessica deinert had 12 points and six rebounds.

northern state shot just 37.7% (20-53) from the floor and 31.6% (6-19) from three-point range.

both teams struggled from the line, hitting 62.5% (10-16) each.

the wolves out rebounded the golden bears by a slim margin, 38-36.

concordia continues to defend their perfect record tomorrow evening when they travel north to bismarck, n.d. To take on the university of mary in the third-ever meeting between the schools.

last year, cu swept u-mary in their first year in the northern sun.

box score - cu 60, northern state 56