ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia University women's basketball team (18-6, 13-4 NSIC) extended their winning streak to seven with a 78-61 win over Sioux Falls (12-9, 8-9 NSIC). Carissa Wolyniec hit three three pointers and scored nine points as she became the 26th member of the 1,000 point club at Concordia and set the school record for career threes with 241.

Anika Whiting also hit a milestone this evening as she scored a career-high 31 points on 12-17 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line.  It was the 28th 30 point game with Whiting becoming the 21st different player to score 30 in a game and the first since Maurika Hickman in 2010-11.  She also pulled in nine boards and dished out three assists.

Not to be outdone, Rachel Hansen had a big game of her own with 17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals.  She hit 5-10 shots and 7-9 from the charity stripe.  She is the career leader in free throws made with 453.



Sam Knecht picked up a double-double to lead the Cougars with 14 point and 10 rebounds.  She was joined by Laura Johnson and Taylor Varsho in double digits with 10 points each.

Concordia, the top team in the country at taking care of the ball, committed only eight turnovers and forced 18 in the win.

Things started slow for both teams as neither team shot over 25.0% in the opening 10 minutes. Concordia missed 13 of their first 16 shots which allowed the Cougars to build an early 25-12 lead. The Golden Bears bounced back to score 13 straight to even the score at 25 with 2:24 to play. Hansen hit a pair of free throws in the final second of the half to give CU their first lead since the opening minutes at 29-28.  Concordia capitalized on turnovers in the half as they outscored USF by a margin of 17-2 in points off of turnovers.

The second half proved to be all Golden Bears as CU hit 59.3% of their shots after the break and outscored the Cougars 49-33 to cruise to the 78-61 win. Concordia took advantage down low as Whiting scored 20 points in the second half and CU outscored USF 18-8 in the paint. Concordia pushed the lead to double digits at the 15:01 mark of the second half and eventually stretched it out to as many as 19 in the finall minutes.

Concordia is back in action for Senior Night tomorrow night with Southwest Minnesota State coming to the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears will honor Rachel Hansen and Carissa Wolyniec in their final regular season home games in CU uniforms.