ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (11-10, 7-8 NSIC) was limited on the offensive end for the second consecutive night as they dropped a tough game by a score of 54-49 to #17 Northern State (19-3, 13-3 NSIC) on Saturday night at Wachs Arena.
 
The Golden Bears' offense was held to a season-low in points for the second night in a row as they were only able to muster 49 points in the slow paced contest. CU was held to 34.6% (19-53) from the floor and 23.5% (4-17) from beyond the arc on the night.
 
Northern State dictated the pace of the game as they limited the shot attempts and made the Golden Bears their 14^th opponent to be held under 50 points in a game as they came into the night with opponents scoring 50.4 points per game.
 
Concordia's defense kept them in the game as they held the Wolves to just 34.8% (16-46) from the field while taking control on the glass with a 38-32 advantage and a14-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.
 
Anika Whiting led the Golden Bears in the scoring column once again as she finished with 14 points and four rebounds on 6-14 from the field.
 
Ameshia Kearney and Lauren Shifflett joined Whiting in double figures as they each added 10 points on 4-7 shooting. Kearney filled out the line with five boards and four assists as well.
 
Kionda Nicks filled the stat sheet as she finished with five points, five rebounds, four blocks, three steals and two assists in 26 minutes. The NSIC block leader now has 58 blocks on the year.
 
Rachel Krogman was a force in the paint for NSU as she scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds and five steals in a hefty 38 minutes.
 
Paige Waytashek and Devon Brecke also added 10 points apiece for the Wolves.
 
The Wolves built an early lead on their home court as they scored seven of the first nine points of the game but saw the Golden Bears even it back up quickly at 7-7. A 6-0 run a few minutes later for Northern State handed them the lead back but Concordia once again erased it as the score was even at 17-17 with 5:41 left to play in the half in what was a defensive battle.
 
NSU managed to create some breathing room down the stretch in the first half as they connected on three straight threes before settling in with a 28-21 lead heading into the break.
 
As was the case last night, the Golden Bears struggled to get things going offensively in the first half as their 21 points in the half was their second-lowest output in the opening 20 minutes, behind just last night's contest at MSU Moorhead.
 
The lead was back at nine as Krogman grabbed the first bucket of the second half, but the Golden Bears strung together a 10-1 run spanning 5:33 to tie it up at 31. The two teams traded buckets for the next several minutes until a 6-0 run for Concordia gave CU their first lead of the game at 40-36 with 8:36 to play in the game.
 
Northern State regained control as they embarked on an extended 12-2 run that gave them a 48-42 lead with just two minutes to go. CU cut it to three with a Shifflett triple and later cut it to two twice at 49-47 and again at 54-49 with under a minute to play but were unable to pull any closer as NSU put it away at the foul line, finishing it off 54-49.
 
Concordia returns to the Gangelhoff Center next weekend as they play host to Minot State and U-Mary.