belmont, calif. - the concordia women's basketball team showed the west coast what midwestern basketball is all about, putting up a 45 point win, 97-52, against the academy of art university (3-6) on friday night. This is the largest win for the golden bear program since the season opener from a highly successful 2007-08 season. Cu shot 60% from the field and took 46 of their points from the paint. box score
the cu women wasted no time warming up to the toasty california weather, shooting 51.6% from the field in the first half for a 42-24 lead after 20 minutes. If the first half wasn't balmy enough for the urban knights, the golden bears ratcheted up the heat even more in the second half, shooting 67.6% and outscoring the academy of art 55-28. They had a double figure lead seven minutes into the game and only continued to stretch the lead as the game wore on.
junior guard maurika hickman (minneapolis, minn.) stole the spotlight in the first half with 17 points from 6-of-8 shooting. Hickman finished her effort with a game high 21 points, six assists and eight rebounds. gillian bjerke (sr., c, detroit lakes, minn.) took control in the post with 17 points split between the two halves.
the golden bears' shooting performance gave the team a huge boost in a new environment and also extended their season-starting winning streak to nine games, the second best start for a cu squad in school history. But the team's offense was not the only note-worthy part of the game. Concordia held the urban knights to 29.7% shooting, the lowest opponent average this season, and also forced 18 turnovers. Rebounding also went solidly to the golden bears, who nearly doubled aau up, 50-26.
the only major hiccup for concordia and undoubtedly an area that will be a main focus as the season continues was in turnovers. Cu entered the game ranked 4th in the nation with just 13.4 turnovers per game, but in tonight's game, the gave up the ball 19 times, leading to 15 aau points.
the final golden bear to finish in double figures for scoring was jineen williams (jr., g, racine, wis.) with 10 points. Williams and hickman, both guards, were the unlikely rebounding leaders with eight boards each. Williams also put up an impressive eight assists and had three steals. Forward ashley viehauser (sr., minneapolis, minn.) had a nine point, seven board performance.
the golden bears play one more game in california against notre dame de namur tomorrow evening at 9:00 pm (ct). They hope to continue to keep the good times rolling as they look ahead to a road game at #1 michigan tech before the 2009 calendar wraps up.
