ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (8-5, 4-3 NSIC) held on to defeat #21 St. Cloud State (9-3, 5-3 NSIC) to complete the weekend sweep at the Gangelhoff Center. Ameshia Kearney scored a season-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists in the win for the Golden Bears.
 
For the second night in a row the Golden Bears shot the lights out in the second half to erase a first half deficit in a comeback victory. CU hit a sizzling 64.0% (16-25) from the floor and limited the Huskies to 35.5% (11-31) after the break. Concordia shot an even 50.0% (26-52) for the game while SCSU finished at 38.8% (26-67).
 
Anika Whiting hit another milestone in the game after breaking the school's scoring record last night as she grabbed six rebounds to pass Lisa Harfield as Concordia's all-time leading rebounder with 744 boards in her career. Whiting added 10 points, three steals and a pair of assists as well.
 
Joining Kearney and Whiting in double figures, Mishayla Jones provided her second biggest scoring outburst of her career with 19 points on an efficient 7-12 from the free throw line. Voneisha Harris added a strong performance with nine points, four boards, three assists and three steals as she went a perfect 2-2 from the field and 5-5 from the line.
 
The Huskies saw four players score in double figures as Chelsea Nooker and Andrea Thomas led the way with 18 points apiece and Lexy Petermann and Karissa LeCaptain added 17 and 15, respectively. Thomas hit 4-7 from beyond the arc while Petermann chipped in 12 boards for the double-double.
 
St. Cloud State controlled play early as they held the Golden Bears to just four points nearly the first seven minutes as they built an 11-4 lead. The lead remained between four and eight points until late in the half when the Huskies extended the lead to nine on an Amanda Christianson three with 1:41 to go to make it 37-28. CU hit four at the free throw line down the stretch to cut the lead to 37-32 heading into the break.
 
It remained a five point advantage in the opening minutes of the second half at 40-35 before an 11-3 run for the Golden Bears gave them their first lead since the 14:52 mark of the first half. The lead changed hands five times with three ties over the next seven minutes until Amanda Barton gave Concordia the lead for good at 61-59 with 7:57 to play.
 
Harris pushed the lead to a game-high nine points with two consecutive steals that resulted in five straight points to give CU a 68-59 lead. After the Huskies cut it back to three, Concordia pushed it back to eight at 76-68 with just 3:01 to go on a couple more free throws from Harris.
 
SCSU wouldn't go away as the Golden Bears struggled to put it away at the free throw line. The Huskies closed the gap all the way to one at 81-80 with 20 seconds to play as MacDonald and Petermann took over. After a pair of missed free throws for CU, the Huskies had a chance to take the lead but Kionda Nicks blocked a Petermann layup and forced a jump ball to give possession to the Golden Bears. Jones knocked down two to extend the lead to 83-80 with eight seconds left and Whiting blocked a MacDonald three attempt to close out the win.
 
Concordia hits the road for four in a row starting with two against Augustana and Wayne State next weekend.