st. Paul, minn. - concordia university avenged their first nsic loss of the season by reversing roles with minnesota state on friday night in a whitened gangelhoff center. This time commanding key rebounds and sinking long range shots, the golden bears maintained their nsic lead with a 72-59 win over the mavericks (13-10, 8-8 nsic). Senior jamie jones did more than her share in slaying the mavericks, scoring 24 points with six rebounds, six steals and four assists. Minnesota state was kept to just five threes and turned the ball over 16 times. box score
concordia eliminated the elements that have been strengths for minnesota state in friday's meeting to head toward the win. The mavericks, who lead the nsic in fewest turnovers per game, were forced into 16 by the golden bears. jamie jones (g, sr., mounds view, minn.) badgered msu ball handlers all night and came up with six nabs along with numerous other close calls. The golden bears also controlled the glass, an area that caused them considerable trouble in their january loss to the mavericks.
it was a series of small runs that gave concordia the edge in the game, starting with a 10-0 run that began at the 15 minute mark. kali olstad (g, sr., elgin, minn.) and jones sandwiched the scoring with hits from long range to push the score to 20-10. The mavericks came back in the final minutes of the period, using a set of three-pointers in an 8-0 run to cut cu's lead to one point, 29-28 with two minutes remaining. But jones brought her golden bears back with five straight points, a three-pointer and two free throws to finish out the half with a 34-28 lead.
turnovers were especially detrimental to the mavericks in the second half. Shooting better from the field, the mavericks lost too many chances to score on lost possessions. Jones's quick hands added four more second half steals to her total of six.
minnesota state had their chances to change the outcome of the game in the second period, taking a 41-40 lead with a lauren barber jumper at the 14:36 mark. But just when the msu defense proved its worth with stops, the golden bears came up with big plays to get back on track. zoraa quoie (g, jr., woodbury, minn.) sent the lead back to concordia with a pair of long range shots with two jones free throws thrown in the mix, giving cu a 48-41 advantage. The mavericks would rebound to within two points but the golden bears were about to setup a game-changing run that settled things.
a mix of players gave concordia an 8-0 run with powerful rebounding and hot defense that fended away maverick shots. Minnesota state was limited to three made field goals and nine points in the last nine minutes of the game.
jones finished one point shy of a career scoring high with her 24 points, a great help in her quest to become a 1,000 point scorer. She is now just 57 points away from the milestone. Jones sunk four threes in the win and hit all four of her free throw attempts. She was tied for second in the game with her six rebounds. Quoie's strong game finished with 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. gillian bjerke (c, sr., detroit lakes, minn.) pitched in with 11 points and a team high eight boards. The squad shot 40.9% from the field, using ten three-pointers and a 42-33 rebound edge to bury the mavericks.
two mavericks led the way in the first loss for the team in four games. Liz trauger made moves in the post to get to 13 points, but was off from long range with an 0-6 night. Tiffany moe also had 13 points, five of which came from the stripe, but like her forward teammate, struggled from the distance in an 0-5 performance. Trauger had a team high nine boards. The mavs shot 40% from the field but were bleak from long range. With an average of nearly 7.5 threes normally hit per game, they were limited to just 5-of-24 shooting. The 16 turnovers in the game was about 50% higher than their season average.
