st. Paul, minn. - concordia university used double digit scoring performances from four players to go ahead 85-64 over minnesota, crookston (5-3, 2-1 nsic) on friday evening. The game marked the first nsic bout of the season at the gangelhoff center. The golden bears, now 8-2 overall and 3-0 in nsic play, take on #13 msu moorhead tomorrow night at 6:00 pm.
concordia stretched out a quick 13 point lead, 24-11 as junior gillian bjerke laid in a shot off the glass at the 11:30 mark of the first half. candace olstad helped the team go up by as many as 22 points in the first half with 12 points and three steals in the opening period. A 12-1 scoring run was kicked off with a three-pointer from freshman tori lythjohan and continued with five straight points from junior jamie jones. Bjerke capped the stretch with a jump shot that put cu up 38-17 near the five minute mark.
turnovers spelled disaster for the golden eagles, who were riding on wins over two nsic teams last weekend. They committed 18 in the first half and 27 in the game, leading to 28 points for the golden bears. Concordia had one of their best controlled games of the year with just 15 turnovers.
the second half played out much like the first with the exception of more fouls and concordia bench players gaining court time due to the scoring discrepancy. Every player on the roster saw at least five minutes of playing time and all but one player tallied points in the game.
bjerke led the golden bears with 18 points, hitting 6-of-14 shots and topping all players with 12 rebounds. Candace olstad and jones each added 14 points, while shandrell duncan added ten points and seven rebounds. The golden bears came out with an edge on the boards, 50-47.
as a team that relies on the three-point shot, the golden bears launched a fair number of field goals from long range, making eight in the game. The team's final field goal average was 35.9% (28-78). Concordia blocked six shots, including four from duncan. zoraa quoie helped the team's defensive presence with five steals.
jamie zelinsky hit four three-pointers on her way to a team high 21 points. Megan eul came off the bench for 12 points and had seven boards. Jenna dolence, also off of the bench, topped the golden eagles with 11 rebounds. Minnesota, crookston shot 30.5% in the game and had 27 final turnovers.
