WINONA, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (5-4, 1-2 NSIC) dropped a tough 71-61 decision at McCown Gymnasium on Friday night to Winona State (7-1, 3-1 NSIC).
Winona State led for nearly the first full 19 minutes of play including a 21-13 lead before Concordia tied it at 27 heading into halftime.
The Golden Bears couldn't pull ahead, though as the Warriors reclaimed an early lead in the second half and maintained a small margin as Concordia held it within five throughout the early minutes of the second half.
Trailing 38-35 with 15:20 to play, senior
Ameshia Kearney scored five straight points during a 7-0 run as Concordia grabbed its first lead of the night and led 42-38 with 11:30 left. The run was capped by a
Mishayla Jones jumper.
Kearney played all 40 minutes and led the Golden Bears with 15 points on 5-8 shooting, knocking down 5-7 at the stripe. Jones finished with nine points, nine rebounds, five assists and just one turnover although she shot just 4-16 from the floor.
From there, the game would tighten with ties at 43, 46, 48 and 52.
After Concordia led 51-49, the Warriors countered with the game's biggest and most decisive run by outscoring the Golden Bears 12-3 during just over four minutes of play to take a 9-point lead (61-52) with 1:59 to play in the game.
A couple of late three-pointers by
Jordyn Dudley made things interesting in the final minute, but the Warriors made 20-of-25 at the line for the night and 9-of-10 in the final two minutes to put the game away.
The final margin of 10 was the largest lead of the night for either team as the Warriors only got there with two free throws with seven seconds left in the game.
Senior
Anika Whiting was a rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds but shot just 4-15 from the floor.
The Warriors were led by Tara Roelofs' game-high 22 points while Emily Wirth scored a career high 15 points.
Both teams struggled from the floor in a defensive battle with WSU shooting 38.6% (22-57) to Concordia's 37.3% (22-59) although the Warriors were strong from the arc at 43.8% (7-16) with Concordia at 35.3% (6-17). The big difference in shooting came from the foul line as Concordia was outscored 20-11 in nine fewer attempts.
Overall, the game featured eight ties and four lead changes and the Warriors led for 30:50 of play to Concordia's 4:21 of clock with the lead.
Concordia looks to rebound tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Dorman Gymnasium against Upper Iowa (3-5, 1-3 NSIC). The Peacocks lost in overtime to Minnesota State tonight in Fayette.
