ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team kicks off the regular season this weekend as they travel to Central Missouri on Friday, Nov. 11 for a 1 pm start and then travel to #12 Pittsburg State on Saturday, Nov. 12 for a 2 pm start. CSP will play four road games these next two weekends before they return home on Nov. 25.
 
"Those four road games will be tough, not just because we are on the road but we are also playing four very good teams as well. We have all of our starters coming back and we wanted to give them more of a challenge right away to see how mentally tough we really are. We are going to take it one game at a time but once we get to the Thanksgiving tournament and conference games we should be good to go after facing that good competition." Head coach Amanda Johnson noted about the opening games.
 
The Golden Bears return all five starters from last season while also adding six newcomers to this year's squad that will look to make an immediate impact. Johnson begins her second season at the helm and is really looking forward to the upcoming season.
 
"We have high expectations for our team this year and we are looking for a good season. We are really looking forward to getting fans out to come and support us this year. It should be an exciting year." Johnson said about the upcoming season.
 
Concordia finished up last season at 14-16 overall and 9-13 in league play and earned the right to play in the NSIC Tournament. CSP won their first round matchup on the road at St. Cloud State by a score of 83-72 but were defeated in the quarterfinals to a very good Winona State squad by a score of 64-68.
 
With all five starters returning the Golden Bears were picked by the league coaches to finish seventh in the league and fifth in the South Division. Also with the starting five returning it should be an advantage to CSP in creating that team chemistry a lot quicker and early in the season.
 
"We gelled really well at the end of last year and I think that chemistry will carry over into this season. Even with the newcomers that team chemistry is starting to build quickly which should be a huge advantage for us heading into our first games." stated Johnson about the team's chemistry.
  
The Golden Bears have already had a pair of scrimmages against some solid opponents which has helped them prepare for this season. "Playing against University of Minnesota in our first scrimmage was challenge, they were very quick in transition and a good rebounding team so that was something we stressed to our players following that matchup. Against St. Kate's, we got off to another slow start but we played a much better second half, outrebounding them by about 10-15 rebounds and we came away with a good win." Johnson said about the two scrimmages.
 
Leading the way for Golden Bears will be last year's leading scorer and reigning NSIC Freshman of the Year, Anna Schmitt and conference leading rebounder Kyrah Fredenburg.
 
Schmitt led all freshmen in in the league in scoring (15.5), assists per game (3.7) and minutes per game (35.6) while also ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (37.1%) and three-point field goals made per game (1.6) in 2015-16. She will look to build upon last year's success heading into her sophomore campaign.
 
"Anna is very talented and gifted basketball player, she worked more on her ball handling this summer. She is very quick and can get to basket, but she can also shoot the three ball which is another dangerous part of her game." Johnson said about Schmitt.
 
Fredenburg led the conference in rebounding last year with 10.6 rebounds per game, the only player to average double-digit rebounds, and she has worked hard this offseason to also improve her offensive game as well.
 
"Kyrah is the hardest working defensive player you will ever find and her offensive game is looking a lot better which shows how hard she worked on it in the offseason." Johnson stated about Fredenburg.
 
The Golden Bears have two senior starters this year in Mishayla Jones and Caitlyn Russell and they are looking to go out with a memorable senior season.
 
"Shay and Caitlyn are very comfortable with each other, having played together these past four seasons, and they have developed a great point guard to post connection which we love to see. These two have been working hard heading into their final season." Johnson noted about the two seniors.
 
CSP will begin the season without last year's second leading scorer, Lauren Shifflett, as she is recovering from a knee injury. Shifflett averaged 14.2 points per game last season and played the second most minutes a year ago with 985. She led the team in made three pointers with 66 and three point field goal percentage at 35.7 percent.
 
Concordia welcomes in six newcomers this season in transfers Haydn Becker, Lexi Lee, and Lindsay Dorr along with freshmen Cassidy Byrd, Brianna Miller and senior walk-on Kelly McKenzie.
 
"Haydn has done a great job stepping in for Lauren Shifflett, who will miss part of the season recovering from an ACL injury. She has made early contributions in the two scrimmages and practices early on. Lindsay is going to provide a very good post presence, she is very athletic, we are going to work with her and we see a lot of potential in her." Johnson said of the two transfers.
 
Freshman Brianna Miller brings a tough rebounding tenacity to the team and has been very aggressive on the boards in practices this preseason.
 
"Brianna is very strong rebounder, she crashes the boards hard and when she is paired with Kyrah those two provide us with some very aggressive rebounders." Johnson said of Miller.
 
Kelly McKenzie who spent the previous four years of her collegiate career on the CSP softball team, will use her final year of eligibility as a walk-on.
 
"Kelly brings awesome defense to our squad, she is a very good defender and very active on the court." Johnson said of McKenzie.
 
Sophomore transfer Lexi Lee and freshman forward Cassidy Byrd will both redshirt this season but they both bring impressive skill sets to the squad and Johnson is looking forward to have them both for next season.
 
"Lexi has a great three point shot and solid ball handling skills, I have very excited to have Lexi for next year and we will look to get a lot of three pointers from her. Cassidy is brings more size and length to the CSP frontcourt, but she is also a very solid stretch four and can knock down the three ball." Johnson said about Lee and Byrd.
 
Having all-five starters returning and solid newcomers will be an advantage for the Golden Bears as they play a tough non-conference slate with six quality opponents. After this weekend's trip to Central Missouri and Pittsburg State, Concordia travels to the Upper Peninsula to take on Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. The Golden Bears first home games will come on Friday Nov. 25 and Saturday Nov. 26 as they host Concordia-Portland on Nov. 25 and then they take on nationally-ranked NAIA school in #12 Jamestown on Nov. 26 which will wrap up their non-conference schedule. CSP will play an exhibition game on the road against University of South Dakota on Nov. 30.
 
Conference play begins for CSP on Dec. 2 as they travel to Augustana and then travel to Wayne State on Dec. 3. The Golden Bears first home conference matchup will be on Dec. 9 as they host Upper Iowa and then #16 Winona State comes to the Gangelhoff Center on Dec. 10 to wrap up the conference home opening weekend for the Golden Bears.