ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia women's basketball team (3-2) narrowly escaped past Concordia-Portland (2-3) on the first day of the Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic Friday evening by a score of 55-52.

CSP had four players finish in double-digits led by Mishayla Jones with a game-high 12 points, Kyrah Fredenburg added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Lindsay Dorr and Anna Schmitt each added 10 points. Dorr also added eight rebounds on the night. Caitlyn Russell finished with seven points and five rebounds off the bench for Concordia-St. Paul.

The Golden Bears and the Cavaliers played it close for the first four minutes of the game but a 3-pointer by Schmitt ignited a 9-1 run too finished the first quarter of play giving CSP a 17-8 lead. Schmitt finished with five points in the first 10 minutes of play while Dorr and Russell each scored four points.

In quarter number two, Concordia-Portland battled back and outscored CSP 10-4 to pull within three with 4:34 left in the half. For the remainder of the quarter the Cavaliers would remain close but could not seem to tie up the Golden Bears before the half.

Jordyn Peacock would help pull Concordia-Portland within three again with 14 seconds remaining in the half but a deep 3-pointer by Mishayla Jones would give CSP a 29-23 lead heading into the locker room.
Jones would lead CSP with 11 first half points, while Russell and Schmitt each finished with seven first half points for the Golden Bears. For the Cavaliers, Peacock also tallied 11 first half points and three blocks, while Danielle Hartzog finished with six points in the first 20 minutes of play.

In the third quarter it would be rough shooting 10 minutes for CSP as they would go 1-14 (7.1%) from the floor. Concordia-Portland would take advantage of the cold shooting by the Golden Bears as they would tie CSP for the first time since early in the game with 4:55 left in the third quarter.

Despite the cold shooting from the floor Concordia-St. Paul would go 6-8 from the free throw line to hold to hold a 37-35 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter the Cavaliers would tie the game off a jumper by Erin Higbe and the following possession Concordia-Portland would take their first lead of the game off a lay-up by Keesha Smith. The Cavaliers would continue with the momentum as they would build hold that lead for the next four minutes of the game. They would build their lead to as big as five at the 7:18 minute mark.

The Golden Bears would not give up though as they would tie the game at 45 with 5:47 remaining to play off a lay-up by Dorr. At the 3:53 mark Kyrah Fredenburg would make a pair of free-throws to give the lead back to CSP and from there they would never trail the remainder of the game.

Concordia-Portland would keep it close though as they pulled within one with 23 seconds remaining two free-throws made by Fredenburg and Kayla Miller would give CSP a three point lead with six seconds remaining. The Cavaliers would get a final shot attempt to force overtime but the attempt came up short. The Golden Bears went 8-10 from the free-throw line in the final five minutes of the game to help preserve the win.

Concordia-St. Paul had a rough shooting night as they finished 16-58 (27.6%) from the floor but went 20-27 (74.1%) from the free-throw line. Concordia-Portland also had a rough shooting night as well going 18-50 (32.0%) from the field.

CSP held a 26-18 points in the paint advantage and also held an 11-6 second chance points advantage. Concordia-Portland's bench held a 16-10 advantage.

Both teams are in action again tomorrow as Concordia-Portland takes on Wayne State at 12 pm and CSP takes on Jamestown at 2 pm.