CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Concordia University women's basketball team (15-14) dropped their first round game in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in heartbreaking fashion, losing to Minnesota Crookston (14-13) 63-62 on Wednesday night on a pair of last second free throws.
 
The Golden Bears made a furious comeback down the stretch in the second but fell just short in a dramatic finish. After Mishayla Jones gave the Golden Bears the lead with a three with 6.5 seconds left, Alexa Thielman was fouled and hit two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Golden Eagles the win.
 
Concordia erased a deficit that reached as large as 15 to take the lead on two occasions late but were unable to hold on for the victory. Offensive efficiency and rebounding on the part of Minnesota Crookston proved to be too much. UMC shot 42.6% (23-54) while CU hit 40.4% (23-57) from the field and the Golden Eagles held a 38-30 advantage on the glass. In addition, Minnesota Crookston held a 24-12 advantage in paint scoring.
 
Lauren Shifflett was a huge spark off the bench for Concordia as she connected on 5-7 from beyond the arc to finish with a team-high 17 points in 30 minutes of action.
 
Shifflett was joined in double figures with seniors Anika Whiting and Ameshia Kearney.
 
Whiting closed out her decorated Concordia career with 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-12 shooting. She finishes her career with a school record 1,982 points and DII-era record 863 rebounds.
 
Kearney finished the night with 11 points and five assists as she averaged 19.0 points per game over her final six games of the season.
 
For the Golden Eagles, Ebony Livingston scored a game-high 21 points while grabbing seven boards and handing out three assists in the win.
 
She was joined by Micaela Noga and Katrina Moenkedick in double figures for UMC as the Golden Eagles relied heavily on their starters, receiving all 63 points from their starting five.
 
The game could not have gone much worse for the Golden Bears as they missed 12 of their first 15 shots spanning the first 12:45 of the game. Minnesota Crookston took advantage as they turned Concordia's scoring drought into a 21-6 lead. CU spent much of the rest of the half clawing their way back in it as they eventually got the deficit down to seven a couple of times before settling with a 36-27 deficit heading into the half.
 
The Golden Eagles regained the momentum in the early part of the second half as they had the lead back at 13 at 49-36 with 12:13 remaining. Once again CU was forced to play catch-up as they worked their way back in it. Concordia then caught fire from behind the arc as they connected on four threes to spark a 16-2 run as they took their first lead since it was 2-0 with 7:02 to play.
 
Minnesota Crookston wasn't fazed as they scored the next six points to regain the upper hand. After Concordia pulled back within one at 57-56 with 2:44 to play, the Golden Eagles scored the next four to make it a five point game with just over a minute left. Kearney cut it to two with a three with a minute left and Concordia forced a turnover to set the stage for the final sequence.
 
Minnesota Crookston advances to take on Minnesota State in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals.