mankato, minn. - facing off with the #3-ranked team in the nation, the golden bear women's basketball team gave up an 88-67 decision to minnesota state on friday evening. Concordia university gave up 28 points off of turnovers and falls to 15-11 on the year and 7-9 in nsic play. The mavericks shot 50.0% from the field to improve to 22-1 overall and 15-1 in the league.
the golden bears were troubled with turovers throughout the game, giving up their first possession and finishing the contest with 23 losses. The team had been keeping tight control over the ball for a long stretch of games and has been one of the best teams in the nsic this season in regard to turnovers. But the pressure put on by the mavericks, who lead all nsic teams in steals, was too much for the golden bears in tonight's meeting.
powered by a 44-36 rebound advantage in the game, the golden bears hung tight with minnesota state until the waning minutes of the game. The teams posted similar shooting figures in the first half, leading to back-and-forth play. An early three-point shot by candace olstad tied the game at 5-5. shandrell duncan layed a shot in off the glass to put concordia up 22-21 at the 9:27 mark. The mavericks reclaimed the lead for the final time with a long range hit around the five minute mark and took a 36-31 advantage into the locker rooms.
the mavericks found their shooting touch early in the second half, posting a 7-2 run that gave them their first double figure lead of the game, 43-33. A cu 8-2 run came later in the period with threes from both of the olstads and a layup from kelly supernaw that brought the margin back to within five points, 50-45. Duncan, working hard to gain put-backs for the golden bears all evening, scored the bucket that got the team to within four points, the closest they would be for the remainder of the game.
minnesota state opened the game up with a 14-3 run that set the score at 69-54 with just over six minutes to play. The mavericks saw success at getting to the charity stripe through this run and used a pressure defense to limit the golden bears to an abby nielsen layup and a free throw in four minutes of play. Concordia was unable to recover from the deficit and fell 88-67.
gillian bjerke led the team with her third double-double of the season, tabbing 12 points and 11 rebounds, as well as three blocked shots. Candace olstad led all cu scorers with 14 points, followed by a 12 point, eight board effort from duncan. Jamie jones helped the concordia offense with seven assists and also snagged four steals. The golden bears shot 37.7% in the game and out-rebounded msu 44-36.
minnesota state received a 21 point, four assist and three steal game from heather johnson. The squad had four other players finish in double figures for scoring. Alex andrews led her team with 13 rebounds. The mavericks shot 59.4% in the second half to bring their night's shooting average to an even 50.0%. They had ten steals and forced 23 cu turnovers.
the golden bears return to action on the road tomorrow evening, playing at southwest minnesota state.
