Women's Basketball | 11.24.15
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (3-1) closes out non-conference play this weekend in the Drury Thanksgiving Classic as they take on #11 Drury on Friday and Maryville on Saturday.
The Golden Bears enter the weekend riding high after an impressive showing in the Radisson Hotel Minneapolis St. Paul North Classic as they picked up a pair of comeback wins over Jamestown and then-#8 Michigan Tech. CSP erased double digit deficits in both games, showing some major resilience to extend their winning streak to three after opening the season with a loss.
Lauren Shifflett played a starring role for the Golden Bears over the weekend as she put up an incredible 26.0 points and 3.5 boards on 55.6% (15-27) from the field, 54.5% (6-11) from three, and 84.2% (16-19) from the free throw line off the bench. She broke the tournament record for points in a game (34), field goals made in a game (10) and total points in a tournament (52). Shifflett was especially impressive in the clutch as she scored 11 of Concordia's 16 points in overtime in the 93-91 win in overtime over Jamestown before scoring 16 of her 18 points in the second half as a part of CSP's 55 point outburst after the break in the 86-77 upset win over Michigan Tech.
Her efforts led to her being named Tournament MVP as well as NSIC South Division Player of the Week. She became the first CSP player named NSIC Player of the Week since
Ameshia Kearney earned the honor in January of last season.
While Shifflett did the heavy lifting off the bench,
Anna Schmitt,
Mishayla Jones and
Kionda Nicks were big contributors in the starting lineup.
Anna Schmitt filled it up with 17.0 points, 5.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game, including scoring a career-best 22 points on Saturday against MTU, en route to being named to the All-Tournament Team. Jones and Nicks also put up diverse lines as Jones averaged 12.5 points, 6.0 boards, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals while Nicks put up 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 blocks in strong showings.
The Golden Bears meet Drury for just the second time in series history as the Panthers won the first meeting 100-73 back in 2004 in a neutral site game in Florida. #11 Drury enters the weekend with a perfect 2-0 record as they claimed wins over Southwest Baptist and Washburn to open the year. The Panthers are led by Alice Heinzler's 15.0 points per game while Anna Armstrong (13.0 PPG) and Heather Harman (11.0 PPG) are also putting up double figures scoring as well.
Saturday's matchup with Maryville marks the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Saints, a Division II school from the GLVC, also come in with a record of 2-0 as Maryville has cruised to a pair of wins over Fonbonne and Hannibal-LaGrange College. They enter play with four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Alex Hillyer's 16.0 points and 8.0 boards per game.
All games will be available via live stats at the link listed above.
