ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (4-2, 0-0 NSIC) hits the road to open up NSIC conference play this weekend as they travel to #23 Wayne State (4-2, 1-0 NSIC) and Augustana (5-1, 0-1 NSIC).
After an impressive showing in the non-conference season, including four wins in their past five games, the Golden Bears face a pair of tough road tests against two teams picked to finish in the upper half of the league.
Last weekend, CSP bounced back from a loss to Drury on Friday to erase a double-digit deficit in a 76-72 win over Maryville on Saturday in the Drury Thanksgiving Classic. After shooting 35.3% in the opening half, the Golden Bears caught fire after the break and hit 62.1% in the second half to complete the comeback. Conversely, Maryville knocked down 44.4% in the first half before the CSP defense held them to 32.0% in the second. The Golden Bears also claimed an edge in the turnover category as they forced 19 and committed 13.
Lauren Shifflett claimed All-Tournament Team honors for the second consecutive weekend as she led the team with 16.0 points on 44.0% (11-25) from the floor to go along with 1.5 steals as she connected on five three in the two games.
While Shifflett has stolen the spotlight as a part of a productive bench brigade,
Caitlyn Russell has been extremely productive in limited playing time for the Golden Bears. Despite playing just 14.2 minutes per game, the junior center is averaging an eye-popping 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on the season. Russell really broke out in Friday's loss to Drury as she led all Concordia players with a career-high 23 points on 8-13 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line to go along with five boards in 20 minutes of play.
Friday's matchup with the Wildcats is the 35
th installment of what has been an even series over the years. Both teams have claimed 17 wins apiece since the series began back in 2000, but the Golden Bears have found some success recently with four wins in the last six meetings. WSC, however, has been successful on their home court against CSP as they have gone 10-5 in 15 meetings in Wayne. Last season, the Wildcats swept the series as they won 60-57 in St. Paul and 85-76 in Wayne.
In the final meeting of the season last year in Wayne, Concordia was undone by a late run in an 85-76 loss as
Anika Whiting's career-best 33 points along with 11 boards weren't enough. The Golden Bears nearly erased a double-digit second half deficit as they pulled within three late, but a crucial 13-0 Wayne State run proved to be the difference in the game.
The series with Augustana has been nearly as even with the Vikings holding a slim 11-10 margin through the first 21 meetings. The Golden Bears have also had the upper hand in this series over the past few years as they have won three of the past four over Augie. Last season, the two schools each won their home game to split the season series.
In last year's meeting in Sioux Falls, both teams started cold from the floor before host Augustana got hot late and held off visiting Concordia-St. Paul in a 76-62 final. The two teams were a combined 0-12 from the arc in the first half (CSO 0-4, Augie 0-8), but Concordia held Augie to just 24.3 percent first half shooting (9-37) as
Kionda Nicks had five of her six blocks in the first half. She finished the night with six points and six rebounds to go with the six blocks. Augustana later made five straight three-pointers in the last eight minutes to finish 6-17 from the arc (35.3%) while Concordia made just 2-21 (9.5%) for the game.
Live video and live stats will be available for both games at the links above.
