ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 14th-ranked Concordia University women's basketball team (5-2) finished up their non-conference slate on a high note with a 75-60 win against Northern Michigan (3-1), handing the Wildcats their first loss of the season. The Golden Bears forced 23 turnovers and held NMU to just 33.9% shooting for the game.
Rachel Hansen was once again an impact player for Concordia, scoring a team-high 21 points to go along with 11 assists and six rebounds. It was the second consecutive game that Hansen picked up a double-double and second in a row with 20+ points.
Anika Whiting had a quietly efficient night with 18 points on 8-13 from the field, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Carissa Wolyniec and
Amanda Barton each scored in double digits with 12 and 11, respectively. Wolyniec also provided eight rebounds and hit 3-6 threes as she improved to 20-43 (46.5%) from beyond the arc on the season. Barton was also involved on the glass with six boards.
Alyssa Colla and Abbey DeBruin each had 11 points to lead the Wildcats.
Turnovers were key from early on as Concordia built a 13 point lead at 18-5 with 11:31 in the first half following a 14-0 run that ran for just under six minutes. CU maintained a double digit lead for much of the rest of the game as Northern Michigan struggled to get anything going. The lead reached as high as 15 with just over a minute left in the half at 43-28 before NMU hit their seventh three in the half to cut the lead to 43-31 going into the break.
The turnover ratio at the break was 11-1 in favor of the Golden Bears as they outscored the Wildcats 14-0 on points off turnovers. Three point shooting kept Northern Michigan in it as they hit 7-10 from distance in the first half.
Whiting led the offense with 12 points in the first half, shooting 6-8 from the floor. The Golden Bears as a team shot 48.6% in the half.
Nothern Michigan widdled the lead back down to eight with 17:57 left at 45-37, but CU responded with an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 56-37 just five minutes later. NMU couldn't cut the lead below 15 the rest of the game as Concordia cruised to a 75-60 victory.
The Golden Bears forced 12 more turnovers in the second half and despite being outrebounded 27-20 in the half and 49-36 for the game, CU dominated throughout.
Rachel Hansen really turned it on in the second half as she scored 14 of her 21 points (7-9 from the free throw line) and picked up five assists and five rebounds in the half.
Concordia opens up conference play with a top-25 showdown against #17 Minnesota State in the NSIC opener. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
