ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (14-10, 10-8 NSIC) won their third in a row with an 86-73 win over Minnesota State (16-7, 13-5 NSIC) on Tuesday night. Ameshia Kearney scored a career-best 27 points on 8-15 shooting and a perfect 9-9 from the line while dishing out six assists to hand Mavericks their first home loss of the year.
 
Kearney's 27 point outburst matched Anika Whiting's effort at Bemidji State as the second highest scoring output of the season for the team and eclipsed her 26 point performance at Sioux Falls last season.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears were excellent on the offensive end as they hit 51.8% (29-56) from the floor and 79.3% from the free throw line (23-29) as they actively attacked the hoop and put pressure on the Minnesota State defense.
 
The defense also did a nice job of limiting the high-paced Maverick offense, holding them to just 20 made field goals on 56 attempts (35.7%) on the night. MSU did have some success beyond the arc as they connected on 47.4% (9-19) from three but it wasn't enough to stick with the Golden Bears.
 
The end result was a massive 34-12 advantage on points in the paint in favor of Concordia as well as a 36-32 lead in the rebounding category as the Golden Bears showed some toughness as a team.
 
Lauren Shifflett scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and four out of the last six games as she scored 12 points with a pair of threes and two assists in the win.
 
Anika Whiting was the third Golden Bear in double figures as she finished with 11 points and seven boards despite being in foul trouble throughout the night.
 
Kayla Miller, Caitlyn Russell and Kionda Nicks each added at least eight points as well as Concordia received balanced scoring across the lineup.
 
Aubrey Davis had a strong performance for the Mavericks as she finished with 16 points, five assists and six boards on the night to lead the team.
 
The Mavericks came out of the gate with a lot of energy as they quickly built an 11-4 lead just 2:37 into the game. The lead remained at six at 14-8 before eight of the next 10 points, with six from Kearney, went in favor of CU.
 
After MSU rebuilt their lead to seven at 28-21 and again at 30-23, Kearney and Russell teamed up to grab the next 10 points to give Concordia their first lead of the night with 3:27 to go in the first half. The scored remained tight through the rest of the half as Shifflett knocked down a pair at the line to give CU a 38-37 lead heading into the break.
 
The Golden Bears took care of business in the second half as they didn't allow the Mavericks to regain the lead the rest of the way. Amanda Barton capped off a 10-3 run with a three to push the Concordia lead to eight at 52-44 with 13:59 to go in the game and MSU was unable to close it back down to a one possession game as CU's lead continued to grow. The lead reached as large as 15 following a Shifflett three with 5:45 to play as Concordia pushed their lead to 73-58.
 
Minnesota State tried to rally back and eventually cut the lead back to single digits but never really challenged the Golden Bears down the stretch as Concordia closed out an 86-73 win.
 
The Golden Bears will look to extend their winning streak this weekend as Upper Iowa and Winona State come to town.