saint paul, minn. - concordia (7-8, 5-5 nsic) used a 13-4 and 16-4 run in the first half as the golden bears cruised to their fourth straight nsic win 85-70 over bemidji state (5-10, 2-9 nsic). Cu was again led by seniors jineen williams and maurika hickman as the two combined for 36 points in the victory. Freshman rachel hansen also scored in double digits with 11 points on the night. The nsic's leader in steals, zoraa quoie had seven steals on the night as the golden bears forced 20 turnovers resulting in 28 points. box score

with the score tied at seven-all early on cu scored five straight points, four by quoie off of steals to take a 12-7 lead. Following a made jumper by bemidji state cu went on 13-4 run to take a commanding 24-13 lead with 8:50 left in the half. During the run freshman erica gress had four points to lead the team. Bsu got back within six at 24-18 but the golden bears went on another run, this time outscoring the beavers 16-4 from the 6:33 mark of the first half until 1:18 left in the half. Concordia led 42-26 after the opening half of play.

in the first half cu was led offensively by hickman who poured in 10 along with williams and quoie who had nine points. Cu out shot the beavers 47.1% to 36.0% in the first half. Concordia also doubled the beavers in scoring in the paint in the first half 24-12. Cu also had 10 steals and five blocks in the opening half which led to the big lead at half.

the second half was a lot more competitive as both teams picked up the intensity. Bemidji state closed the gap to nine using a a 9-0 run from the end of the half and the beginning of the second half. Over the next 8:22 the golden bears took control back going on a 27-12 run to take a 24 point lead halfway through the second half. Cu kept at least a 20 point lead until the last two minutes of the game as bemidji state scored a few points against the cu reserves.

williams finished with a game-high 20 points and added seven rebounds (four offensive) while hickman scored 16 points.

the golden bears will be on the road next week as they take on minnesota moorhead and minnesota, crookston on friday and saturday evening.