ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (1-1) is set to play host to the Radisson Hotel Minneapolis St. Paul North Classic this weekend as they take on Jamestown (5-2) on Friday night and #8 Michigan Tech (1-0) on Saturday night.
Concordia will tip off on Friday night at 8 p.m. following the completion of #8 Michigan Tech and Minnesota Crookston, set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday's scheduled start time is 6:30 p.m. with Minnesota Crookston and Jamestown set to begin at 4:30 p.m.
This marks the third consecutive season in which the Golden Bears meet both the Jimmies and the Huskies in non-conference play as CSP opens their home slate against a pair of familiar opponents.
In the series with Jamestown, Concordia cruised to a 74-57 win in the first ever meeting between the two schools two years ago before collecting a 69-62 win in last year's contest.
In last year's meeting, The Golden Bears outscored the Jimmies 43-27 after the half as
Anika Whiting scored a game-high 26 points in the win. CU hit a scorching 57.7% (15-26) of their shots after the half while holding UJ to just 26.7% (8-30) as they erased a double digit first half deficit. Whiting was joined in double figures scoring by
Mishayla Jones and
Ameshia Kearney with 11 points each.
The Golden Bears have not had as much success in the all-time series with Michigan Tech as CSP is 2-5 heading into this weekend's matchup. After winning two out of the first three meetings, Concordia has dropped four in a row against MTU dating back to 2011.
Last year in Houghton, the Golden Bears fell to the Huskies 65-54. Michigan Tech led from start to finish on their home floor led by Danielle Blake's 23 points. The Golden Bears shot 37.7% (23-61) as a team while they connected on just 2-8 from beyond the arc in the loss.
Ameshia Kearney led the Golden Bear attack with a team-high 15 points on 6-13 shooting as she added four rebounds and three assists.
Anika Whiting chipped in 14 points and five boards in the loss.
Mishayla Jones nearly picked up her first career double-double as she finished the night with 10 points and eight rebounds as well as a pair of steals.
Last weekend, Concordia opened their season with a split in a trip to Puerto Rico. CSP dropped their opener 70-60 at UPR Bayamon before dominating in an 84-38 win over UPR Rio Piedras. Concordia held their opponents to a combined 32.8% from the floor while hitting 36.2% themselves.
Nicole Parsons wasted little time in making an impact in the Concordia lineup as she led the Golden Bears in scoring in each of the team's first two games. The freshman averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game as she hit 43.5% (10-23) of her shots from the floor and 72.7% (8-11) of her free throws.
Mishayla Jones and
Kyrah Fredenburg, a pair of returners, also made their presence known over the weekend as Jones filled up the box score with 11.5 points, 4.5 boards, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game while Fredenburg put up 7.5 points and a team-best 11.0 rebounds in the two games. Jones was especially effective against UPRRP as she had 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five blocks while Fredenburg shined against UPRB with her first career double-double.
Follow along to all of the weekend's action via live video or live stats at the links above.
