WAYNE, Neb. - Concordia-St. Paul (6-4, 4-2 NSIC) used a lengthy 26-9 second half run to snap #19th-ranked Wayne State's (7-3, 3-3) 52-game home winning streak with a 56-46 win at Rice Auditorium on Friday evening.

Wayne State's last home loss was the final game of the 2008-09 season to Southwest Minnesota State (62-67) on February 25, 2009. The Wildcats played three consecutive perfect home seasons and were 6-0 at Rice prior to tonight's game. The Division II record for home wininng streak is also held in Nebraska by Nebraska-Kearney at 87 games (Jan. 31, 1995 to Nov. 21, 2001).

Concordia improves to 14-15 all-time against Wayne State, and 4-9 at Rice Auditorium. Concordia's last win at Wayne State was January 18, 2008 (78-77).

The Golden Bears have now won three-straight Northern Sun contests - all on the road. It won't get easier tomorrow afternoon as Concordia takes on #5th-ranked Augustana at Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Vikings dropped their first game of the season, an 80-79 loss to Minnesota State to fall to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in the Northern Sun as the two teams are now tied for first in the NSIC South Division, with Concordia and Winona State just a game behind at 4-2.

The past few games, it was a three-pronged offensive attack with sophomore Anika Whiting (Ashland, Wis.) providing the punch by leading the league in scoring. Junior guards Carissa Wolyniec (Minneapolis) and Rachel Hansen (Eagan, Minn.) provided threats on the perimeter (Wolyniec) and on the drive (Hansen).

The Wildcats had eyes to shut them down, as Wolyniec and Hansen were bottled up to a combined 1-of-12 shooting night for four total points (2 each).

But they couldn't contain Whiting, as she shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the stripe and produced her second double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The eight shots attempted were a season-low, but she's managed to top 15-points in every game this season. She is shooting 58.3% from the floor and 81.5% at the stripe on the year.

While Whiting was once again a key focus of the game, the Golden Bears were propelled by breakout performances from two freshmen starters, guard Jasmine Haynes (Robbinsdale, Minn.) and forward Kionda Nicks (St. Paul, Minn.). They each scored career-highs of 13 points while Nicks added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists and three steals.

Off the bench, another newcomer stepped up with key minutes as sophomore forward Amanda Barton (Waterville, Minn.) scored eight points in 10 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting, also collecting six rebounds.

Although the reigning NSIC Player of the Week, Wayne State's Jordan Spencer, scored 16 points on the night, the Golden Bears challenged her. She shot just 8-of-18 and only reached the stripe once (0-1).

Concordia started tonight's game strong with an 8-2 early lead after scoring 8-straight points. A three-pointer by Haynes provided Concordia 15-8 lead with 13:21 to play in the half.

Wayne State started to defend its homecourt from there, however, opening up a 13-2 run to take a 20-17 lead with 8:41 to play until the break. They kept the lead until the break, scoring just before the buzzer to extend it to a 5-point margin (33-28) to carry the momentum.

The Wildcat momentum would be short-lived, though, as Concordia opened the second half with a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead - just the third lead change of the night. The key to the early second half spurt was Concordia forcing three early turnovers by the Wildcats, who committed 18 for the night.

Although Wayne State reclaimed the lead momentarily at 37-34 with 17:01 to play, it would not last as Haynes dropped in a three-pointer to tie the score and added a layup a few possessions later to take the lead back.

Concordia kept the lead for the duration as the defense clamped down. Concordia held Wayne State to 6-of-24 second half shooting and WSC had just nine points until the 3:39 mark during the Golden Bears' 26-9 run.

The strong defensive play allowed Concordia to open up its largest lead at 12, 54-42, following a Whiting layup.

From there, Concordia was successful in managing the clock down the stretch by extending possessions with offensive rebounding and strong ball movement.

Wayne State attempted just four shots in the final three-plus minutes of game play.