ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Golden Bears women's basketball team (4-2) will travel to the University of South Dakota for an exhibition matchup on Wednesday evening at 7 pm before opening up NSIC play this weekend. CSP will travel to Augustana on Friday night for a 6 pm start and then heading to Wayne State on Saturday evening for a 4 pm tip off time.
 
Concordia played their first two homes of the season as they hosted the Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic and came away with a pair of wins against Concordia-Portland and Jamestown. CSP struggled shooting from the floor against CUP but forced 25 turnovers and went 20-27 from the free-throw line to help seal a 55-52 win. Four players reached double-digits in the win against the Cavaliers led by Mishayla Jones with a game-high 12 points and three assists. Kyrah Fredenburg added 11 points and nine rebounds in the close win. Against Jamestown, CSP outscored UJ 25-7 in the second quarter to give them an 18 point halftime lead. From there it would be all Concordia as they would come away with an 82-61 win. The Golden Bears shot 45.9 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free throw line in the win while also owning the rebounding category by a 43-28 advantage. Anna Schmitt led all scorers with 19 points and seven assists while shooting 50 percent from the floor. Jones, Fredenburg, Lauren Shifflett and Caitlyn Russell all finished with double-figures for CSP.
 
Scouting South Dakota (5-1)
The Coyotes have been off to a great start to the season and are currently on a three game winning streak. USD is coming off a two game trip to California where they came away with a pair of wins against UC Riverside by a score of 61-55 and against CSU Bakersfield by a score of 75-60. South Dakota is off to their best start through six games since the 2011-12 season where they also started off 5-1. USD has not played a home since the second game of the season when they defeated Stephen F. Austin by a score of 80-74. The Coyotes have had four of their games decided by six or less points.
 
South Dakota is led by Allison Arens who currently leads the team in scoring (22.6 ppg), assists (5.0 apg), steals (2.0 spg), and rebounds (5.6 rpg). She is currently shooting .600 percent from the field, .500 from beyond the arc and .821 from the free-throw line. Jaycee Bradley is currently second on the team in scoring averaging 13.6 points per game. Bradley is leading USD in three-pointers made with 12. Ciara Duffy rounds out the double-digit scoring for the Coyotes as she comes in averaging 12.4 points per game, second in assists with 11 and third on the team in rebounding with 4.6 rebounds per game. USD has been shooting .477 from field while averaging 70.8 points per game.
 
CSP is 4-1 all-time against South Dakota with their last meeting coming back on Nov. 15, 2004 by a score of 79-59. The Golden Bears have won the past three matchups against the Coyotes. Wednesday's matchup does not affect Concordia's overall record.
 
Scouting Augustana (S.D.) (6-2)
Augustana will come in riding a five game winning streak after starting off the season 1-2. Auggie was picked to finish third overall in the preseason polls and second in South Division standings. The Vikings have played one conference game in the young season they came away with a 79-73 win against Wayne State on Nov. 21. Over the Thanksgiving holiday AU hosted Peru State and College of Saint Mary and came away with a pair of wins. Against Peru State, Auggie won in commanding fashion by a score of 92-45 and against College of Saint Mary the Vikings came away with an 83-57 win.
 
Logan O'Farrell currently leads Auggie in scoring with 14.8 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game, blocks with 10 and steals with 20. O'Farrell also ranks second on the team in assists with 29. Sydney Rome is second on the team in scoring coming in at 10.9 points per game. She also ranks third on the team in steals with 14, assists with 21 and has made a team best 21 three-pointers. Lynsey Prosser has also been producing well for the Vikings as she is averaging 9.3 points per game and currently leads the team in assists with 39. She is also tied for third on the team in steals with 14. Augustana has been a high scoring team so far as they are averaging 79.1 points per game while holding their opponents to 61.1 points per game. They also rank better than their opponents in field goal, three-point and free throw percentage.
 
CSP is 10-13 all-time against Augustana and the Vikings have defeated the Golden Bears the last three meetings. Concordia's last win against AU came on Dec. 6, 2014 by a score of 78-77. In last year's meeting Auggie came away with an 80-71 win at the Gangelhoff Center.
 
Scouting Wayne State (5-1)
Wayne State has been off to a great start this young season entering this week with a 5-1 record and their only loss coming to Augustana last Monday. The Wildcats were picked to finish four overall in the preseason polls and third in the South Division. WSC took part in the Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic this past weekend and came away with a pair of wins against Jamestown and Concordia-Portland. The Wildcats topped UJ by a score of 65-56 after getting out to 19-8 first quarter lead and against CUP they got off to another hot start taking a 22-5 first quarter lead and 44-18 lead into the halftime locker room. They would easily go on to win the game by a score of 79-62.
 
The Wildcats have had three very consistent double-digit scorers this season led by Paige Ballinger who leads the team with 13.5 points per game and has also added 13 blocks. Anna Martensen ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and currently leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game and steals with 17. Martensen was also named MVP of the Tournament this past weekend. Maggie Schulte rounds out the double-digit scoring for WSC as she ranks third on the team at 11.0 points per game. She also ranks second on the team in rebounds with 5.7 per game. Wayne State has also been winning by large margins as they have outscored their opponents 70.8 to 58.2. They have also been play some stellar defense holding opposing teams to .319 shooting from the field.
 
CSP is 18-18 all-time against WSC having won the first of two matchups between the two teams last season. Concordia won at Wayne State by as score of 74-59 on Dec. 4, 2015 but then the Wildcats came away with a 78-68 win one month later on Jan. 9, 2016 at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears have won five of the last eight matchups with Wayne State.

Key Stats
- CSP finished 2-0 at Radisson Hotel MSP North Classic for the second straight season. Anna Schmitt and Mishayla Jones were named to the All-Tournament team.
- Anna Schmitt currently leading the team with 16.0 points per game which also ranks sixth in the NSIC. She also ranks third on the team with 4.3 rebounds per game and second in assists with 23. She has also made a team-leading eight three-pointers and has scored in double figures every game this season.
- Lindsay Dorr made her first two starts over the weekend for the Golden Bears and has continuing to provide CSP with a solid low post scoring threat. Dorr is second on the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game and second on the team in rebounds at 5.0 per game. She has also added six blocks on the year is currently leading the team in field goal percentage at .514.
- Mishayla Jones has been setting up her teammates for easy baskets this season as she comes in leading in the team in assists with 28. Jones also leads the team in steals with 11 and has played a team leading 35.2 minutes per game. She also ranks third on the team in scoring with 10.7 points per game.
- Kyrah Fredenburg has continued to dominate the boards just like she did all last season coming averaging 11.0 rebounds per game this young season which ranks first on the team and second in the NSIC. She notched her first two double-digit scoring performances of the season over the weekend as she posted 11 points against Concordia-Portland and 10 points against Jamestown.
- Lauren Shifflett returned to action after sitting out the first four games recovering from a knee injury she suffered last season. In her second game against Jamestown she finished with 11 points while going 3-5 from beyond the arc.
 
Live stats and video for the three games this weekend can be found at the links above or on the Women's Basketball schedule page.