BAYAMON, P.R. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (1-1) bounced back with a convincing 84-38 win over Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Saturday afternoon to wrap up their season-opening trip.
 
The Golden Bears dominated in every facet of the game as CSP shot 42.0% compared to 27.3% for UPRRP and forced 23 turnovers while committing 11 in the game. Concordia also had a big positive margin in rebounding with a 57-38 edge, including a 22-9 edge on the offensive glass, as well as a 48-12 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Nicole Parsons led the Golden Bears in scoring for the second game in a row as she put up a game-high 17 points on 7-14 shooting and 3-4 from the free throw line to go along with five rebounds.
 
Mishayla Jones filled the stat sheet as well with 13 points on an efficient 4-7 from the floor, 2-2 from beyond the arc and 3-4 from the line as well as six boards, five assists and five steals as she contributed in nearly every aspect of the game.
 
Caitlyn Russell was tremendous off the bench for CSP as she put up a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in only 16 minutes of action. She was joined by Kyrah Fredenburg in double figures on the glass as Fredenburg added 10 boards to go with five points, two assists and two steals.
 
Trixia Rosario had a team-high eight points off the bench while Thalia Torres put up seven rebounds for the Gallitos.
 
Concordia set the tone from the opening tip as they scored nine of the first 11 points of the game to build an early cushion. They quickly extended that lead to double figures at 15-4 just past the midway point of the opening quarter before eventually ballooning it all the way to 16 at 25-9 at the end of the first.
 
UPR Rio Piedras cut the lead back to 12 early in the second before the Golden Bears embarked on an 18-4 run to close out the half with a 45-19 advantage. CSP took advantage of turnovers and offensive rebounds as they held an 8-0 advantage in points off turnovers and a 6-0 advantage in second chance points in the period.
 
The Golden Bears kept their foot on the gas in the third quarter as they scored the first 10 points of the period and 16 of the first 18 to see their lead hit 40. The Concordia advantage remained around that margin for the rest of the quarter as CSP went into the fourth with a 68-27 lead.
 
The lead reached as large as 48 as Concordia scored the opening seven points of the final period to make it 75-27. It didn't shrink below 40 the rest of the way as the Golden Bears settled with an 84-38 win to pick up their first victory of the season.
 
Concordia will return home next weekend for the Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic as they take on Jamestown on Friday night and #8 Michigan Tech on Saturday night.