ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia University women's basketball team (17-6, 12-4 NSIC) picked up their third straight weekend sweep with a 74-55 win over the University of Mary Marauders (11-8, 9-7 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears held the Marauders to just 25.3% shooting for the game and 18.5% from beyond the arc as they pulled away in the second half in the win. CU dominated around the rim as, outscoring U-Mary by a margin of 34-18 in the paint. Concordia also doubled up Mary in the blocks category by a mark of 10 to 5.
A big factor in the blocks category was
Kionda Nicks. Nicks, the NSIC leader in blocks, blocked five more shots and grabbed 13 rebounds in the game. She blocked 12 shots for the weekend and now has 55 on the year.
Offensively,
Anika Whiting led the Golden Bears with 21 points and just missed the double-double with nine boards.Â
Rachel Hansen wasn't far behind as she filled the stat sheet with 18 points eight boards and six assists.
Carissa Wolyniec hit a pair of threes and grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists. She now stands just five points shy of 1,000 for her career.
Brittney Dietz had a team-high 12 points for the Marauders, all of which came in the first half, on 4-13 from the floor. Linda Murray was the only other Marauder in double figures as she scored 10 points and picked up eight boards.
Concordia used a 13-5 run early in the first half to turn a 9-9 tie into a 22-14 lead with 10:57 to go in the half. The Golden Bears turned up the defense and didn't allow U-Mary to get any closer than four the rest of the way. The lead hit double digits on a pair of free throws from Whiting at the 6:40 mark to make it 30-20 and after trading buckets the rest of the half CU went into the break up 38-27 at the half.
The Marauders pulled it back to nine at 39-30 early in the second half but the cold shooting continued as the Concordia lead ballooned out as much as 27 and the Golden Bears cruised to a 74-55 win.
Concordia is back in action to complete their home slate next weekend with Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State coming to the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears remain two games behind NSIC South leader #9 Wayne State for the top spot in the division.
