GAMEDAY LINKS: WATCH | LIVE STATS at AUGIE | NSIC LIVE SCOREBOARD | CU GAME NOTES
ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-4, 3-2 NSIC) looks to continue its hot streak this weekend against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents. On Friday, Concordia is at #19 Wayne State (6-2, 3-2) for a 6 p.m. tip at Rice Auditorium. On Saturday, the team travels to Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on #5 Augustana (9-0, 5-0) at Elmen Center at 4 p.m.
The team will have its hands full in the New Year as Augustana is unbeaten and Wayne State's only two losses are to Augustana and Winona State - an unbeaten team and a team that has defeated Concordia. However, Wayne State's two losses were blowout losses, 56-82 at Augustana and 35-74 in its last action at Winona State. The Wildcats play today at home against Chadron State, though, looking to get back on track before this weekend's game against the Golden Bears.
Meanwhile Augustana has been the early story of the Northern Sun, winning all nine games while boasting the number one scoring offense (82.9) and number three scoring defense (55.3) for a staggering +27.6 average scoring margin. The closest anyone has come to beating the Vikings was a 9-point road win at Winona State in their second-to-last game before the break (56-47), and a 12-point win in Hawaii over Northwood (76-64). They've topped 90 points four times and held opponents under 60 points six times including four games under 50 points.
Now is the time for such a a challenge as the Golden Bears have won two in a row and are 3-1 in their last four Northern Sun games. They've been carried by a solid three-pronged offensive attack led by the dominance of sophomore
Anika Whiting (Ashland, Wis.).
Whiting leads the Northern Sun in scoring in both conference-only play (21.4) and overall (19.6). She's shooting 57.1% from the floor on the year and averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.
She's been aided by a pair of solid junior guards as well, with point guard
Rachel Hansen (Eagan, Minn.) slashing through the lane and either dishing or finishing; and shooting guard
Carissa Wolyniec (Minneapolis) on the wing draining three-pointers at an alarming rate.
Hansen is tied for the league lead at 5.0 assists per game while scoring 10.3 points per game and leading the team with 19 steals. Hansen shoots 49.3% from the floor and is second on the team with 35 free throw attempts. She's also the team's second-leading rebounder at 4.9 per game.
On the wing, Wolyniec is second in the NSIC with 3.0 three-pointers made per game, having connected on 27-of-62 this year, a 43.5% rate which ranks 10th in the league. She averages 12.4 points.
The contrasting trio has proven difficult to stop when executing, which they've done well as of late.
Defensively, Concordia is led by a true freshman
Kionda Nicks (St. Paul, Minn.) on the inside. An imposing 6-foot, 2-inch forward, Nicks has made an immediate impact by swatting 1.56 blocks per game which ranks third in the league and is third on the team with 4.4 rebounds per game.
