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ST. PAUL, Minn. - The #25 Concordia Golden Bears (7-3, 2-1 NSIC) hit the road for a pair of NSIC games against the #10 Augustana VIkings and the #17 Wayne State Wildcats. CU tips off against Augie at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and against WSC at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
THE MATCH-UPS... Friday's matchup is the 18th meeting between the Golden Bears and Vikings. Augie holds a 10-7 advantage in the series and a 6-1 advantage in Sioux Falls against CU. Concordia's only win at Augustana came last season, back on January 5.
Emily Schulte leads the Vikings with 14.6 points and 4.7 assists along with 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game. She joined joined in double figures in points with Shaunteva Ashley (13.7), Riley Nordgaard (11.7) and Rhianna Gullickson (10.4).
Concordia and Wayne State have split their 30 meeting, with each team winning 15 games. CU is 4-9 all-time in Wayne, but swept the season series last year.
The Wildcats boast the third-leading scorer in the NSIC in Jordan Spencer, who averages 20.2 points per game. She also averages a team-high 7.5 rebounds and is shooting 60.5% from the field. Millie Niggeling adds 11.3 points per game off the bench and Ashton Yossi has hit 40.8% from beyond the arc while scoring 10.4 points per game.
LAST YEAR AT ELMEN CENTER... Concordia rallied late to grab a big road win against a ranked Augustanan team by a score of 70-61. The Golden Bears closed the game on a 17-2 run in the final 4:55 of play to erase a 6-point deficit. Concordia trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half with 10:47 to play before the strong finish.
Anika Whiting double-doubled with 17 points and 12 boards while
Carissa Wolyniec hit 3-4 from three to finish with 11 points.
LAST YEAR AT RICE AUDITORIUM... The Golden Bears used a lengthy 26-9 second half run to snap #19th-ranked Wayne State's 52-game home winning streak with a 56-46 win.
Whiting shot 6-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the stripe and produced a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Kionda Nicks scored career-high of 13 points and added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists and three steals.
LAST TIME OUT... Concordia swept Winona State and Upper Iowa to pick up their first two conference wins on the season. Friday was a tale of two halves as Winona State built a solid lead and dominated the glass and out-shot CU by a wide margin in the first half, but the Golden Bears returned the favor in the second half. Concordia took control on both ends in the second half and held off WSU in a 63-57 win. On Saturday, CU played mistake-free basketball as they only committed two turnovers while forcing 18 in an 80-63 win over Upper Iowa. Concordia built a double digit lead at the break and cruised to the victory while shooting 47.1% from the floor in the game.
CHASING HISTORY... Concordia has two players closing in on 1,000 points for their career.
Anika Whiting stands just three points shy of becoming the 24th member of the 1,000 point club at CU while
Rachel Hansen is only 51 away at 949. Hansen os also 16 assists shy of second in DII era history while also ranking 10th in rebounding in that span. Whiting is up to ninth in the rebounding ranks.
