durango, colo. - the golden bears (26-6) were smothered by a fort lewis college (33-3) defense and were knocked out of title contention monday night in durango, colo., 73-64. The loss finishes concordia's season in the sweet sixteen round of play and advances the skyhawks to the elite eight. The golden bears fought back in the second half of play but came up short of the central region trophy to a skyhawk team that showed control of the ball and composure on their home court.
the golden bears fought back from a 32-23 halftime deficit, opening with a 7-0 run and taking a 43-42 lead by the 12 minute mark. The teams contended for the lead until the waning minutes, the skyhawks breaking a 60-60 tie with an 8-0 run to leave just over a minute to play. box score
the golden bears sunk just one field goal in the final 3:37 of play after they tied the game 60-60. Fort lewis, on the other hand, was zoned in with 5-of-6 field goals and 13 free throws in the last 7 minutes of the game. Flc applied full court pressure to slow down the nation's #3 offense and force cu into 17 turnovers. The team also had the supportive influence of 1,875 screaming fans to give flc an undefeated home season.
junior maurika hickman (g, minneapolis, minn.) gave the golden bears multiple boosts before finishing as the team's leading scorer with 16 points. One of the top three free throw shooters in the nation, hickman stepped to the line and single-handedly scored 7 straight points with 5-of-5 charity shots and a three-pointer to draw cu to within a point, 18-17 in the first half. She canned another three-pointer to stop a skyhawks run in the second half.
concordia's biggest momentum shift was at the midpoint of the second half when they went on an 8-0 run to lead the game 53-47. jineen williams (g, jr., racine, wis.) took the ball coast-to-coast and successfully layed a ball in over two defenders and got the whistle to complete a three-point play to highlight the run.
fort lewis' laura haugen then turned the tide of the game with what could possibly have been the most important two shots of her career, both from beyond the arc. The hits were the finale of an 11-0 flc run that relinquished concordia's lead for the final time, 58-53. Despite the golden bears tying the game after this mark, they were stalled in the final minutes for the loss, having lost some composure as they went to the final minutes with a deficit.
hickman was the game's leading scorer with 18 points. Williams was close behind with 15 and eight rebounds. jamie jones (f, sr., mounds view, minn.) had 13 points and three assists. Center gillian bjerke (sr., detroit lakes, minn.) had the potential to be a game-changer for cu, but her court time was stymied by fouls and she finished with 10 points. Cu shot 36.1% from the field and, due to a tough full court press, had 17 turnovers. For the first time this season, they lost a game when winning on the boards, which they did by a 43-37 margin.
fort lewis college was held to just 40.7% shooting but had a number of players shine in the game. Guard abby jackson connected on four three-pointers on her way to 17 points. Katie mackey had 15 points and tournament mvp allison rosel had a tremendous 12-point, 17-rebound game.
the golden bears wrap up their successful season with a 26-6 record. They were the nsic's regular season champion (17-3)and were ranked in the national poll for over half of the year. The golden bears had six players see the final game of their careers tonight, graduating jamie jones, kali olstad, gwen young, gillian bjerke, chanica hall and ashley viehauser. A special thanks to each of these six players who helped return the concordia program into a regional force.
