HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Concordia University women's basketball team dropped its season opener 90-80 at Michigan Tech on Saturday afternoon.
Carissa Wolyniec (Minneapolis, Minn.) was one point shy of her career-high, posting 23 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including five three-pointers on 15 attempts and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Concordia trailed through the first 3:12 until
Kika Greenlee (St. Louis Park, Minn.) put the Golden Bears up 7-6 on a jumper. Michigan Tech and CU wavered back and forth with the lead for the next five minutes before a three-pointer by Mackenzie Perttu at the 11:37 mark started a 14-to-10 Huskie run for their largest lead of the half at 30-23 with 6:31 left on the clock. The Golden Bears rallied for the remainder of the period, though, and scored 21 of the last 29 points for a 44-38 lead after 20 minutes.
The Bears took advantage of their second-chance opportunities in the opening period, scoring 11 points in that category. The bench also contributed 14 points.
Michigan Tech took back the momentum to start the second with a 13-to-2 run to lead 51-46 at the 16:37 mark. The Huskies found a rhythm and continued to slowly increase their lead for the remainder of the game, leading by as much as 15 points (82-67) with 4:11 to go. The closest CU would get from that point on was an 88-80 deficit with :10 seconds left, but time ran out for the 10-point margin of defeat.
Concordia shot 41.5% from the floor on 27-of-65 shooting and went 15-for-20 from the charity stripe, but was bested by Michigan Tech's 47.7% shooting (31-65), including 10-for-19 from beyond the arc and 18-for-20 from the line.
Anika Whiting (Ashland, Wis.) was second on the squad with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. She also hauled in a team-high six rebounds.
Amanda Barton (Waterville, Minn.) and
Mandy Poke (Richfield, Minn.) also reach double digits with 10 points each.
Rachel Hansen (Eagan, Minn.) led the team with six assists.
Concordia will play its home opener on November 17 against Bethel University in non-league action. Tip-off is slated for 12:00 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.
