houghton, mich. - the golden bears destroyed a 23-point lead by michigan tech with inspired play in the second half before eventually falling 82-74 to the #1-ranked team in the nation. The decision gives cu its first loss of the season at 10-1 and keeps the huskies undefeated at 10-0. box score
concordia trailed by as many as 23 points in the first half and went into the locker room at halftime down 47-33, but used a type of game that has become typical of the golden bear program to mount a huge second half comeback. They set michigan tech completely out of its game early in the second half, out-scoring the huskies 22-8 and forcing multiple turnovers and missed shots. They tied the game up 55-55 off of a jamie jones handoff to gillian bjerke in the paint with 13:20 to play.
concordia upped the ante even further, going up by four, 63-59 following a maurika hickman three-pointer. The full court pressure put on by the golden bears and the team's interruption of passing lanes spelled trouble for the undefeated michigan tech squad and an offense that was suddenly struggling. Unfortunately the concordia hot shooting cooled down and the huskies were allowed back into the game at the midpoint of the half.
the golden bears came back from another small deficit with bjerke laying in the go-ahead bucket before michigan tech's leading scorers stepped it up to take back the game. Forward katie wysocky, who dominated the game with 16 points and nine boards in the first half, returned to the spotlight, put her team up for the final time at the 2:46 mark with a 72-71 layup. She sealed the win with a number of key rebounds and five free throws. Leading guard katie zimmerman hit two field goals for five points that turned the momentum drastically in mtu's favor in the final two minutes.
concordia turned to jones and hickman to control the pace of the game and turn things around in the game. The duo connected on back-to-back long range bombs that got the run going soon after halftime. zoraa quoie played her part as well, gaining three steals and also doing some dishing and scoring in the run.
determining factors in the michigan tech win were rebounding and turnovers. Since both teams shot around the 50% mark from the field in the game, it was these details that gave the huskies the win. Michigan tech out-rebounded concordia 82-74 in the game, but had no more important boards than those in the last few minutes. Concordia's eight first-half turnovers might not have seemed crucial at first glance, but considering michigan tech committed only four, they combined with a 22-2 run to create the large hole from which the golden bears had to dig. Cu went without a field goal for more than seven minutes in the first half.
concordia took 18 points each from hickman and jones, with jones also adding seven assists and a steal. Bjerke had 12 points and six boards, while jineen williams led the team on the glass with nine rebounds and also had 11 points. The golden bears topped michigan tech in shooting with a 52.7% average. They hit 11 three-pointers, including four each from hickman and jones.
michigan tech also shot well from the field, finishing with a 49.2% showing. They matched concordia with 11 three-point shots, but made up nearly the whole difference in the game from the free throw line, hitting six more shots than cu. Wysocky completed her game with a 28-point, 12-rebound double-double, followed in scoring by danen with 21 points. Sarah stream had 10 assists.
the golden bears will take their vigor and great shooting back to the gangelhoff center this weekend where they will host st. Cloud state in a return to nsic play. The game tips off at 2:00 pm on saturday afternoon.
