KEY LINKS: TOURNAMENT WEBSITE | BRACKET

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 20th-ranked Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (22-5) used a 16-0 run while holding Minnesota, Crookston (8-19) without a point for over nine and a half minutes in a 60-45 win in the NSIC/Sanford Heatlh Tournament first round on Wednesday night at Gangelhoff Center.

The Golden Bears were tested as the top seed from the South Division against the North Division's eighth seeded Golden Eagles. UMC led for the middle 15-minutes of play from the 10:30 mark in the first half to the 15:09 mark in the second half. But the Golden Eagles couldn't pull ahead by more than six as Concordia's defense kept them from pulling away.

Concordia survived the first round despite shooting 31.3% (21-67) from the floor and 20.0% (3-15) from three-point range. The Golden Bear defense held visiting UMC to 28.4% (19-67) shooting and 20.0% (2-10) from three.

With the large volume of missed shots coming from both teams, it was Concordia's aggressiveness on the offensive glass, and ability to capitalize on the opportunities that was the true difference. Concordia held a 20-12 offensive rebound advantage and a 19-2 margin in second chance points.

Two Golden Bears had double-doubles, sophomore Anika Whiting (Ashland, Wis.) with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Mandy Poke (Richfield, Minn.) with 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Freshman Kionda Nicks (St. Paul, Minn.) was just a rebound shy with 12 points and nine rebounds as well.

Concordia mounted a 61-44 edge in total rebounds, and added an 8-2 edge in blocked shots in dominating the paint.

While the perimeter game was cold all night, junior Carissa Wolyniec (Minneapolis) knocked down a pair of three-pointers late in the game and finished with 10 points.

Once Concordia went on the 16-0 run and held UMC scoreless for over nine and a half minutes, the margin was never trimmed to single-digits.

The Golden Eagles were led by Katrina Moenkedick with 13 points. She played in 29 minutes despite picking up a fourth foul late in the first half and didn't foul out of the game. Laurie Tyson added eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Concordia advances to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals and will host the fourth-seeded Northern State Wolves on Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center. Northern State was the last team to defeat Concordia, a 63-50 defeat at Gangelhoff Center on January 12. Concordia has won 14 straight games since, and has now won 19 of the last 20 overall.