ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-10, 1-8 NSIC) led heading into the fourth but couldn't hang on in a 78-68 loss to Wayne State (9-6, 6-4 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears had strong starts to each half but were unable to hold off the Wildcats in the loss. A huge 33 point outburst in the fourth quarter for Wayne State proved to be the difference as they turned a four point CSP lead into double digit lead of their own in the game's final 10 minutes.
Concordia's defense once again forced turnovers in bunches as they forced WSC to commit 22 on the day while committing 17 themselves. Despite the advantage, Wayne State managed to out-score CSP 26-17 in points off of turnovers. The Golden Bears also led the way in points in the paint again with a 36-26 edge. A huge advantage for the Wildcats came in the form of a massive 32-2 difference in bench scoring as 66 of 68 points for Concordia came from their starting five.
Mishayla Jones provided perhaps her best performance of the season as she matched
Caitlyn Russell with a team-leading 18 points to go along with eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals. The 18 points represented a season high while the seven boards matched her season high and her eight assists fell one short of that mark on the year.
Russell, in addition to her 18 points, also chipped in six boards for the Golden Bears. The pair was joined by
Anna Schmitt in double figures as the freshman contributed 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Paige Ballinger paced the Wildcats with a game-high 20 points to go along with six boards in 20 minutes of action before fouling out. Kacie O'Connor added 13 points and seven boards off the bench for WSC as well.
The Golden Bears delivered the opening blow as they pressured the Wildcats into early turnovers. Concordia forced seven turnovers in the opening six and a half minutes without committing a turnover of their own to build a 14-6 lead, matching their largest lead of the day. CSP remained out front by eight at 19-11 with 2:02 left in the opening period before Wayne State rattled off the next six in a row to close the gap to 19-17 heading into the second.
After a grind-it-out first 4:13 in which neither team managed a single field goal, Wayne State continued their run as they scored eight of the first 10 points and 11 of the first 14 points of the quarter to take a 28-22 lead of their own. The two teams would combine for just five points over the final two minutes to make it 29-25 in favor of WSC at the half. In total, CSP managed just six points in the second quarter as they were outscored 12-6. CSP hit 13.3% from the floor while WSC hit 23.1% in the period.
Concordia quickly erased the Wildcat lead with 7-0 run to open the half as they went up 32-29. The two teams went back and forth from there as the lead changed hands nine times in the quarter to go along with six ties. Wayne State led as late as the 2:01 mark in the third at 45-43 before CSP grabbed the final six points of the quarter to take a 49-45 lead into the final period.
The opening minute and a half of the fourth featured three lead changes before the Wildcats took control. They turned a 51-50 CSP lead into a 56-51 WSC lead quickly as the Golden Bears wouldn't lead the rest of the way. Concordia did manage to pull back even at 56-56 and again at 58-58, but an ensuing 10-1 run for the Wildcats gave Wayne State the decisive advantage. CSP pulled back within four at 70-66 but were unable to get any closer as WSC iced it at the free throw line to close it out with a 78-68 final.
Concordia remains home next weekend as they host Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.
