Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia University women's basketball team (21-8, 16-6 NSIC) is the third seed from the South and opens up NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament play this Wednesday with match-up against the sixth seed from the North, Minnesota Duluth (14-12, 11-11 NSIC).

**The first 100 students with a CSP ID will receive FREE ADMISSION, thanks to Student Senate and Concordia Athletics. First round ticket prices are as follows: Adults-$10; Seniors-$8; Students & Kids-$2; Children under five-Free.**

Concordia has a record of 18-20 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Golden Bears have dominated the series recently, wining seven of the last nine meetings.

This will be the third meeting between these schools in the NSIC Tournament with meetings in '03-04 and '09-10. The Bulldogs won both meetings by scores of 58-57 and 80-73, respectively.

BACK ON JANUARY 3RD... Rachel Hansen became the 25th member of the 1,000 point club at Concordia as CU got back in the win column with a 95-63 win against the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The offense was clicking all night long as the Golden Bears easily set a new season high with 95 points.  The 95 points were the most in a game for CU since a 108-74 win over U-Mary on February 18th, 2011.  The Golden Bears went into the half shooting 48.4% and improved that number to 54.3% in the second half.  They finished the game an impressive 35-68 (51.5%) from the floor, their best mark on the year.  Concordia also set a season high with 28 assists on their 35 makes and tied a season high with nine threes made.

Hansen finished the night a point shy of her season-high with 20 points as she was an efficient 6-9 from the floor and 7-8 from the free throw line. Ameshia Kearney also broke the 20+ point plateau with a game-high 23 points on 7-12 shooting and 5-7 from beyond the arc.

LAST TIME OUT... CU closed out the regular season with a sweep of Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls on the road. On Friday, defense proved to be the difference as CU held the Mustangs to a season-low 25.0% from the field for the game as they cruised to a 66-44 win. Concordia also dominated down low as they out-rebounded the Mustangs 51-36 and outscored them in the paint 30-16. The bench also proved to be a major factor as the Golden Bears received 20 points from the non-starters compared to 12 for SMSU. On Saturday, the Golden Bears finished off the regular season with an 87-67 win over Sioux Falls. The win was head coach Paul Fessler's 400th of his career and 299th of his Concordia career. The Golden Bears have clinched the third seed in the South and will host Minnesota Duluth at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in the NSIC Tournament first round. The winner will advance to the second round at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Bears dominated on the offensive end, shooting 48.5% from the floor. Their shooting percentage and point total both marked their second best on the season. They also connected on 10-18 (55.6%) from three. CU took care of business on the glass as well with a 45-34 advantage in the rebounding category.

LEAGUE LEADERS... The Golden Bears have three different players that come into the weekend leading the league in major categories.  Rachel Hansen's 4.83 assists per game is tied for tops in the league. She also led the league in assists last season. Kionda Nicks, meanwhile, holds a sizable lead in the blocks per game category.  Her 2.45 blocks per game is almost half a block per game more than anyone else.  Carissa Wolyniec comes in with an NSIC best 2.76 threes made per game.

FESSLER NOTES... Head coach Paul Fessler reached a major milestone this past weekend as he picked up his 400th career win. On Friday, he also clinched another seaosn with 20+ wins, giving 11 of his 14 seasons at the helm for the Golden Bears. Fessler is also sitting at 299 career wins in his career at the helm for the Golden Bears.

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY... The Golden Bears have a 19-7 record in 10 trips to the tournament. CU has taken home the title three times ('05, '07, '08) and has reached the tournament final six times. Concordia holds a 9-1 record in opening round games in the tournament.