ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #14 Concordia University women's basketball team (5-3, 0-1 NSIC) dropped their conference opener to the #17 Minnesota State Mavericks (4-1, 1-0 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center. 

The Mavericks shot 45.5% from the field and 42.9% from three and outrebounded the Golden Bears by a mark of 48-31 en route to an 87-63 win. Concordia holds a 15-13 record against the Mavericks in the all-time series.

Ali Wilkinson led the way for the Mavericks with 16 points and six boards on 5-9 shooting.  Karlee Gengenbacher added 15 points on 5-8 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arc.

Rachel Hansen continued her solid play with 15 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals while hitting 5-10 shots.  Anika Whiting joined her in double digits with 14 points.

The first half was a game of runs as Concordia used a quick 8-0 run to build an 8-3 lead in the early minutes led by six points from Whiting.  Minnesota State responded with a 7-0 run of their own to regain the lead at 10-8.  Another CU run of nine straight points gave them their largest lead of the game at 17-10 with 11:30 left in the first half. 

Minnesota State took control of the game with an impressive 20-0 run that lasted just over five minutes as they built a 30-17 lead.  In that span MSU hit 7-8 shots as CU went 0-10 from the floor.  The Golden Bears cut the lead in single digits at 30-21 but wouldn't get it below 10 the rest of the day.  The lead stretched all the way to 17 as Minnesota State went into the half with a 42-25 advantage.

Wilkinson was effective in the first half, hitting all three of her shots as she scored a game-high nine points in the half.

The Mavericks were firing from beyond the arc in the first half as they hit 9-19 from three in the first 20 minutes.  MSU assisted on 10 of their 14 field goals in the half.  The MSU bench outscored CU's bench 16-4 in the first.

Whiting was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line as she scored eight points in the half.

Concordia hit only 9-32 (28.1%) from the field and 1-6 (16.7%) in the first half, but took care of the ball well with only five turnovers, compared to six for Minnesota State.

The Mavericks didn't allow the Golden Bears back in the game as they extended the lead to 21 with 14:24 left  as Tyra Johnson hit a jumper to make it 52-31.  CU were unable to get the deficit below 19 the rest of the way.  The lead eventually hit 29 at 79-50 with 4:48 remaining as Hillary Paulson scored four straight for MSU.  CU didn't give up as they used a 12-3 run to cut the lead to 82-63 but it was too little too late as the Mavericks cruised to an 87-63 win.

The battle was won on the glass in the second half for MSU as they held a 26-11 advantage in the half, including 11 offensive boards on 19 missed shots.  The Mavericks hit 16-35 (45.7%) from the floor in the second half but cooled off from beyond the arc as they only hit 3-9 (33.3%).

Karlee Gengenbacher did the damage in the second half for MSU with 10 points on 3-5 shooting to go along with four boards.

CU got 10 points and six assists from Hansen in the second half.

The Golden Bears hit 13-14 from the free throw line half to finish the game at 19-20 (95.0%) as a team.

Next weekend, the Winona State Warriors and Upper Iowa Peacocks come to the Gangelhoff Center as the NSIC season continues.