moorhead, minn. - each head coach calls this their rivalry game. While the rivalry is fierce and has been for years, it's also spirited. Last second shots, overtime comebacks, conference titles - this series has had it all over the years. Tonight, it was speed versus power on saturday evening in a battle of two undefeated northern sun early season powers. Concordia university remained unscathed, however, rolling into enemy territory for a 77-65 win at alex nemzek fieldhouse against msu moorhead. The golden bears move to 8-0 overall, 4-0 in the northern sun while the dragons fall to 8-1 and 3-1. box score
this is the third time concordia has got out to an 8-0 start in program history, the first time coming in 1975-76 at 8-0 and again in 2007-08 with the school record 18-0 start. The golden bears and dragons were both unranked on the season, but had been back-and-forth with each other in the top-30 the past few weeks in the "others receiving votes" section of the poll.
concordia has now won 14 of their last 15 games dating back to last season. They have won seven of the last nine contests against the dragons, including a road win late last year when msum was ranked #21 in the nation. They are now 20-8 all-time against the dragons as well.
for the second straight night it was a balanced attack from concordia. In fact, that is seemingly the season storyline. Night after night, opponents are forced to make tough defensive decisions and so far the golden bears are eight-for-eight in their response.
four players scored in double-figures for concordia, a night after all five starters hit double-digits. Tonight it was three starters and a reserve. Junior guard jineen williams (racine, wis.) and senior center gillian bjerke (pelican rapids, minn.) led concordia with 17 points each. Williams also tied for the team high with six rebounds and three steals and led cu with four assists. The duo combined to shoot 15-29 from the floor in impressive high-low fashion.
they were second half stars, too, with bjerke scoring 13 and williams adding 11 in the second half.
the golden bears only committed one second half turnover while scoring nine points of msu moorhead's five miscues.
in the size versus speed matchup, concordia's speed overwhelmed msu moorhead out of the gate as cu sprinted to an 8-0 lead, holding the dragons to just two missed shots and forcing three turnovers in the opening two and a half minutes of action.
but the dragons came back strong with the next eight points of their own and took their only lead of the game, 11-10, at the 12:27 mark as their 11-2 run held the golden bears to just one kali olstad (g, sr., elgin, minn.) bucket during the five-plus minutes of play as the game evened out.
concordia responded in blazing fashion with 10 points in 73 seconds to take a 20-11 lead.
solid defense allowed the golden bears to extend the run to 13-0 for a 23-11 lead when zoraa quioe (g, sr., woodbury, minn.) knocked down a three at 8:49. Msu moorhead finally snapped a near four minute spell without a point when angie jetvig knocked down a three at 8:29. Quioe finished with 10 points off the bench while jetvig had game-highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
the great first half run by the golden bears built a lead that would hold between 5 and 15 throughout the game. In the first half, concordia's speed and pressure full court defense forced 12 turnovers and only caughed the ball up five times leading to a 15-2 edge in points off turnovers.
surprsingly, concordia outscored the dragons in the paint by more than a 2-1 margin with a 22-10 edge, showing impressive paint defense.
more importantly, concordia only committed six turnovers in the game compared to 17 for the dragons. It led to a crushing 24-4 disparity in points off turnovers, something the golden bears have excelled at all season.
for the dragons contributing to jetvig's solid individual performance was allison nash-gerlach, adding 17 points and seven rebounds.
concordia opens the early part of the northern sun slate perfect in four games before returning to non-conference action until the new year. Next weekend, they travel to the west coast to face two division ii squads they have never met before, academy of art university and notre de namur in san francisco, calif. On friday and saturday. On december 29, they stay on the road to face the top-ranked team in the nation, michigan tech.
