WAYNE, Neb. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (8-7, 4-5 NSIC) was undone by a late run in an 85-76 loss to #19 Wayne State (13-3, 7-3 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.
Anika Whiting set a new career high with 33 points as she added 11 rebounds for the double-double in the loss.
Whiting's 33 point outburst was the biggest individual output for the Golden Bears since Jineen Williams' 36 point performance against MSU Moorhead back in the 2009-10 season but it wasn't enough as CU lost their second in a row and second of the year to Wayne State.
The Wildcats turned 12 CU turnovers into 20 points while Concordia collected eight points off turnovers.
Wayne State's bench also made a big difference as their non-starters outscored the Golden Bears' 29-20.
Whiting was joined by
Lauren Shifflett and
Ameshia Kearney in double figures as Shifflett put in 12 points and Kearney added 11.
Shifflett was 3-6 from three-point range and 3-5 from the line as she also chipped in a pair of assists off the bench.
Kearney continued to fill up the assist column with four assists to go along with her 11 points.
Mishayla Jones just missed a double-double with eight points on 3-6 shooting while grabbing nine boards as well as four assists.
The Wilcats received a balanced effort with six players scoring in double figures, led by Jordan Spencer's 15. Spencer added three steals while Millie Niggeling contributed four to go along with her 12 points.
After Concordia took an early 5-3 lead, the Wildcats took over with an 8-0 run to build an 11-5 lead of their own. Concordia pulled back within two points at the 13:58 mark with a Jones jumper to make it 13-11 but the Golden Bears wouldn't get any closer as Wayne State caught fire from beyond the arc to aid a 14-2 run to build their largest lead of the half at 32-17 with under eight minutes to go.
CU closed the gap with eight straight points to bring it back to single digits and the two teams traded buckets down the stretch as the lead remained at seven with a score of 44-37 at the break.
The Golden Bears hit an efficient 46.2% in the opening 20 minutes while Wayne State shot 43.8% but their seven turnovers compared to just three for WSC proved to make a difference. The Wildcats helped their effort by connecting on 7-16 from beyond the arc while CU hit 4-7.
The Wildcats stretched the lead back to double digits at 52-41 as they opened the second half with eight of the first 12 points in the half. After the two teams exchanged baskets, Concordia responded with eight straight points in a span of just over two minutes to cut the lead to only three at 54-51 with 13:41 to play.
The Golden Bears kept the Wildcats from extending the lead over the next five minutes as they remained within three at 65-62 but it wouldn't last as a 13-0 run in favor of WSC as they stretched the advantage to 16. With only six minutes remaining, Concordia was unable to work all the way back as they brought it back to single digits with a final score of 85-76 but couldn't get any closer.
The Wildcats heated up even more in the second as they connected on 51.7% after the break to bring their total to 47.5% CU also upped their percentage after the half as they hit 48.1% to finish at 47.2%.
CU remains on the road next weekend as they travel to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.
