ABERDEEN, S.D. - The Concordia University women's basketball team (11-6, 6-4 NSIC) dropped a nailbiting game 61-59 at Northern State (12-2, 8-2 NSIC) as their comeback attempt came up short for the second night in a row.

The Golden Bears trailed by as many as nine in the first half at 16-7 and again at 27-18 but were able to claw their way back and take the lead in the second half but it wouldn't be enough as the Wolves regained control and held off another comeback attempt in the closing seconds.

CU was held to just 30.0% shooting in the first half as they saw NSU score the first five points of the game to build a lead they would maintain for the entire half.  The Concordia defense hung tough as well, holding Northern State to only 34.4% themselves as the Wolves went into the break with a lead of only three at 29-26.

Paige Waytashek was a catalyst for the Wolves in the half as she hit 3-8 from beyond the arc to score all 11 of her points in the first 20 minutes to go along with two blocks and an assist.

Concordia featured a balanced attack with four of their five starters with six points at the halfway mark.

A Carissa Wolyniec three would tie the game at 30 just over a minute into the second half and CU grabbed their first lead at the 13:37 mark on a jumper from Kionda Nicks as the momentum looked to be swining in favor of the Golden Bears.

The lead would be short-lived as Northern State regained the lead at 47-46 with 9:40 to go and the Wolves wouldn't trail again.  Concordia had the deficit back down to one several more times, including at 57-56 with 46 seconds to go following another Wolyniec three, but NSU shut the door to grab a 61-59 victory.

Wolyniec led the Golden Bears with 14 points on an efficient 5-8 from the floor and 4-6 from three as she also picked up eight boards.

Despite a tough shooting night, Anika Whiting provided a solid effort on the glass with 11 rebounds to go along with 13 points to complete the double-double.

Rachel Hansen and Kionda Nicks also scored in double figures with 11 points each and each also picked up five rebounds.  Hansen further filled the stat sheet with five assists.

Sadie Stotesbery hit 8-15 shots en route to a game-high 18 points along with 13 boards to lead the Wolves.  Rachel Krogman found other ways to contribute than scoring as she finished the night with four points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.  Megan Mutchler also just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine boards for NSU.

Concordia returns home next weekend for a big pair of games with Wayne State and Augustana.