In one of their worst shooting performances of the season, fifth-ranked concordia university (25-2, 16-2 nsic) still had a chance to pull out a win, falling short in the closing seconds in a 75-70 loss to wayne state (19-8, 12-6 nsic) on saturday evening in the northern sun regular season finale at the gangelhoff center in st. Paul, minn.

concordia didn't make a field goal in the final 2:55 and was just 5-10 from the line during the same span.

the loss snaps a 23 game home winning streak, dating back to an 80-64 loss to then top-ranked north dakota on dec. 16, 2006. Wayne state was also the last nsic team to beat concordia at the gangelhoff center, snapping cu's 22 game nsic home winning streak (includes postseason). The wildcats defeated concordia on feb. 17, 2006 85-61 and would go on to win the nsic regular season title before concordia ended their season in the ncaa tournament first round.

senior point guard katie laviolette (manitowoc, wis.) became the 21st member of the 1,000 point club, scoring nine points to give her 1,008 in her career. She also had eight assists, five rebounds and two steals. She also has 743 career assists, putting her four away from 11th in ncaa division ii history.

senior center amanda behnke (eagan, minn.) had her 10th double-double of the year with 19 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 7-12 from the field, the only plyaer on the team to make two or more shots and shoot at least 50.0%.

shooting woes doomed concordia, as they finished 36.5% (23-63) from the field, 20.8% (5-24) from three-point distance and 63.3% (19-30) from the foul line.

the 11 missed free throws tied a season-high (14-25 at upper iowa, jan. 11). Concordia only shot lower from the field three times this season, including their other loss at msu moorhead.

wayne state, meanwhile, was efficient at the stripe, converting 21-24 (87.5%) for the contest.

from three-point range, concordia had their chances, firing the fourth-most three-pointers on the season. Unfortunately, the golden bears had only made less than five three-pointers six times this year.

concordia never led in the game, but did manage to force five ties and never let wayne state pull away.

two free throws by junior forward candace olstad (elgin, minn.) pulled concordia within three, 73-70 with :52 to play. She finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, also forcing three steals and posting two blocked shots.

concordia's defense held strong, forcing andrea schoepf to miss a lay-up with laviolette grabbing the rebound. Schoepf finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds, making 12-12 at the line and dishing four assists in 40 minutes of action.

after the laviolette rebound, the golden bears came out of a timeout and found an open c.olstad just inside the arc at the top of the key. The jumper rimmed out with mara hjelle grabbing the rebound for the wildcats.

the golden bears immediately fouled hjelle, who missed both free throws. The missed free throws came after the wildcats had hit 19 of their first 20 at the stripe.

unfortunately, the golden bears would not capitalize as senior guard kelly lund's (new brighton, minn.) three-pointer with nine seconds was off the mark. Lund finished with nine points.

concordia's kali olstad (so., g, elgin, minn.) grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled, but missed both free throws with the deficit still at three, 73-70 with five seconds left. Despite the misses, k.olstad contributed seven points in eight minutes off the bench.

jennifer yee made two free throws to push the deficit to five, out of reach with just over four seconds left in the game.

the wildcats had four players score in double-figures with schoepf leading the way while laquisha cook and teresa case each added 13 and kylee mcgill scored 11.

concordia has earned the top seed in the nsic tournament and will host southwest minnesota state next saturday, march 1 at either 6 p.m. Or 8 p.m. Check www.northernsun.org for a complete bracket following the conclusion of the men's basketball results this evening.

box score - wayne state 75, cu 70