ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-5, 1-3 NSIC) saw a 19 point lead disappear in a 71-68 loss to Upper Iowa (3-8, 2-3 NSIC) at Gangelhoff Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears got off to a lightning quick start as they ran out to a 19 point advantage in the opening quarter, but they were outscored by a scrappy Peacocks squad in each of the final three quarters to drop their third in a row in league play.
CSP held UIU to just one field goal and a 12.5% shooting percentage in the first quarter before Upper Iowa hit 47.6% (20-42) over the final 30 minutes of the game. On the other side, Concordia knocked down 55.2% (16-29) in the first half and connected on 36.0% (9-25) after the break.
CU Women's BB vs. Upper Iowa 12.12.15 - Images by
Justin Oakman Turnovers were a big story on the night as the two teams combined to turn it over 41 times on the night, with the Golden Bears turning it over 21 times and the Peacocks turning it over 20 times. It was a story of two halves in that regard as CSP forced 11 in the first half and turned it into 15 points while UIU forced nine and turned it into seven points. In the second half it was flipped as Concordia turned it over 12 times, resulting in 16 Upper Iowa points, while the Peacocks turned it over nine times, resulting in six CSP points.
Lauren Shifflett, Concordia's leading scorer on the season, led the way with a game-high 18 points on an efficient 7-11 from the floor as she added three threes made in the game. She was joined by
Mishayla Jones and
Anna Schmitt in double figures as Jones put up 14 points, four assists and three boards while Schmitt contributed 12 points, five steals and three assists.
Kyrah Fredenburg nearly missed hitting double figures again in rebounds as she led all players with nine boards to go along with seven points while
Caitlyn Russell put up nine points and seven rebounds off the bench as well.
For the Peacocks, Whitney Kieffer and Aleesha Cleaver each poured in a team high 17 points in the winning effort. Kieffer's line was especially impressive as she added five rebounds, five assists and four steals in addition to her 17 points.
The Golden Bears put up a dominant display in the game's opening quarter as they quickly ran out to a 13-3 lead by the 5:52 mark before adding to it down the stretch. The lead remained at nine at 16-7 before CSP rattled off 10 straight during an impressive stretch to make it 26-7 with 1:13 remaining in the first. With a few free throws each way in the final minute, Concordia took a 27-10 lead into the second.
The Peacocks quickly shrunk the gap to 10 with nine of the first 11 in the second quarter, but the Golden Bears bounced back to stop the run and maintain their double digit advantage. It wasn't until the 2:34 mark that Upper Iowa got it back to single digits, but CSP responded again to take a 44-34 lead into the half.
The momentum shifted completely in Upper Iowa's favor as they cut Concordia's lead all the way to one following a 12-3 run over the first four minutes of the second half. The Golden Bears continued to cling to a slim lead until UIU took their first lead since the opening moments at 50-49 with 4:17 left in the third. That lead would be short-lived, however, as the Golden Bears closed out the quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 58-54 lead into the fourth.
Concordia pushed the lead back to six early in the fourth and remained out front by that margin at 64-58 with 7:14 remaining in the game before Upper Iowa erased that lead with six points in a row. A Fredenburg layup put CSP up 66-64 with just over three minutes to go, but that would be their final lead as they scored two points the rest of the way. The Peacocks scored the next five to take a three point lead before Shifflett cut it back to one with 31 seconds to go. UIU added two to their lead at the free throw line before CSP had a chance to tie with a three with six seconds to play, but the attempt rattled out and Upper Iowa claimed the rebound to close out the come-from-behind win 71-68.
CSP will play their final game of the 2015 calendar year next Saturday night as they travel to Minnesota State for a matinee matchup at 2 p.m.
