MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (2-2) survived a late scare to hand Northern Michigan (2-1) their first loss of the season by a score of 70-69 in overtime on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Golden Bears saw a 21 point lead late in the first half disappear as they needed an overtime period to close out the 70-69 win.
 
It was a tale of two halves as CU hit 42.4% from the field in the first half while Northern Michigan shot an icy 14.8% before the break. Concordia cooled off to 29.6% in the second half while NMU improved to 37.0%.
 
Anika Whiting led the Golden Bears with 23 points and eight rebounds despite hitting just 8-21 from the field. She was also 7-9 from the free throw line and collected two blocks.
 
Kionda Nicks provided a spark offensively as she hit 6-8 from the floor, 2-4 from three and 3-4 from the line for 17 points to go along with four boards.
 
Ameshia Kearney was the only other CU player in double figures with 10 points on 3-9 shootings and 2-3 from beyond the arc as she added six rebounds and four assists. She also added a block on a shot at the buzzer to clinch the win.
 
Alyssa Colla carried the offensive load for the Wildcats with a game-high 24 points with eight boards and four rebounds.
 
Lauren Gruber added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for NMU.
 
After the Wildcats hit a pair of early free throws, the Golden Bears went on an 18-2 run spanning nearly 10 minutes as they built an 18-4 lead over halfway through the first half. NMU missed their first eight shots and 14 of their first 15 as they dug themselves an early hole. Things didn't get much better for the rest of the half as the lead eventually reached 20 at 31-11 with 1:36 to go in the half as Nicks hit a three. Another three for Jordyn Dudley with 56 seconds left in the half pushed the lead to a game-high 21 point lead at 34-13 as the Golden Bears settled with a 34-17 advantage heading into the break.
 
The Wildcats chipped away early in the second half as they cut the lead to 14 at 44-30 with 15 minutes to play but CU was able to push it back to 19 with a 5-0 run. Northern Michigan took control from that point as they used a 23-5 run to pull within one at 54-53 with 5:02 left in the game. They tied it up at 59 and took the lead back at 61-59 with a pair of free throws with just 25 seconds to go. Whiting calmly hit two free throws with 13 seconds left to force overtime.
 
Concordia regained control in overtime as they scored the first six points to make it 67-61 with 3:21 to play in the overtime period. Colla hit a big three for the Wildcats with 1:43 left to even it back up with 1:43 left but Lauren Shifflett gave the Golden Bears the lead back as she hit 1-2 from the line to make it 70-69. CU held their ground and made a pair of stops, capped by Kearney's block to close it out and pick up the win.
 
The Golden Bears return home on Tuesday as they play host to Jamestown at 6 p.m. and again on Friday as William Penn comes to town at 2 p.m.