MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (11-9, 7-7 NSIC) was held to a season-low 51 points on Friday night in a 63-51 loss to MSU Moorhead (11-8, 10-5 NSIC) at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
The Golden Bears were limited to just 30.4% (17-56), also a season low, for the game as they hit just 19.0% (4-21) from beyond the arc. CU held their own on the defensive end as they also kept the Dragons to just 31.4% (16-51) shooting for the game.
Two major deciding factors came at the free throw line and on the glass for MSU Moorhead. MSUM hit 26-27 from the foul line, including hitting their first 22 in a row, as they turned their opportunities at the stripe into points. The Dragons also held a large 46-31 advantage on the glass as they picked up 11 offensive boards compared to six for CU.
Taking care of the basketball was an issue for both teams as Concordia forced 22 turnovers and turned it over 18 times themselves.
Anika Whiting proved to be the lone bright spot on the offensive end as she was an efficient 5-9 from the floor and 9-10 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 19 points and five rebounds in 28 minutes for the Golden Bears.
Amanda Barton,
Mishayla Jones and
Ameshia Kearney chipped in nine, eight and seven points, respectively, as well.
The Dragons featured a balanced attack with three players with 14 or more points in the game. Meghan Roehrich and Heather Strese matched each other with a team-best 15 points as Strese fell two rebounds short of a double-double with eight boards. Morgan Banasik added 14 points as she went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Concordia got off to a strong start as they doubled up the Dragons in the opening five minutes as they built an 8-4 advantage. MSU Moorhead wasted no time striking back as they scored the next 12 points to take a 16-8 lead midway through the half. CU chipped away at the lead as they made it a five-point game at 20-15 and again at 22-17 but the Dragons put the clamps down the rest of the half.
The Golden Bears went 0-7 with five turnovers over the final six minutes of the half as they finished the half with just 17 points, their lowest first half total of the season. The Dragons, on the other hand, extended their 22-17 lead by scoring the final seven points of the half to take a 29-17 advantage into the locker room.
CU quickly grabbed the first four points of the second half to trim the lead to single digits but MSU Moorhead once again answered and extended their lead to a game-high 15 at 38-23 and again at 40-25. A 12-4 run capped by a
Kyrah Fredenburg three cut it back to 44-37 at the halfway point of the second half but the Golden Bears were unable to pull any closer the rest of the way.
It was a frustrating finish for the Golden Bears as the Dragons pushed the lead back to double figures and prevented CU from working their way back into the game. The lead fluctuated between 8-14 points the rest of the way with Concordia unable to string together enough buckets to make a major run. MSU Moorhead settled with a 63-51 final in the win.
Concordia will look to get back in the win column tomorrow night as they take on Northern State at 5 p.m.
