MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Golden Bears women's basketball team (7-6, 3-4 NSIC) dropped their second game of the two game road trip to MSU Moorhead (11-1, 8-0 NSIC) by a final score of 76-63 on the road.
 
Anna Schmitt finished with her second straight 21 point game in the loss for CSP. She also added five rebounds and two steals. Caitlyn Russell tallied 12 points off the bench and also pulled in six rebounds. Kyrah Fredenburg chipped in with nine points and six rebounds. Lauren Shifflett also added nine points and three assists for Concordia.
 
From the opening tip, MSU Moorhead came out of the gates firing as they opened the game with a 12-0 run. Caitlyn Russell got Concordia on the board with a layup at the 5:46 mark in the first quarter. For the remainder of the quarter, the Dragons continued to hold a double-digit lead to finish the quarter with a 22-11 lead.
 
A jumper by Anna Schmitt at the 1:53 mark did pull CSP within nine but MSUM would get another basket with 1:04 to build their lead back to double-digits.
 
To begin the second quarter a layup and free-throw by Schmitt would pull the Golden Bears within eight of Moorhead, but again the Dragons would respond with an 8-2 run over the next four minutes and five second to build their lead up to 14.
 
After MSUM built their big lead, CSP would respond with a 13-3 run to close out the quarter and pull within four heading into halftime.
 
The Golden Bears hit three 3-pointers during their run to close out the second quarter, including a pair of back-to-back triples by Hanna Vidlund.
 
It wasn't until the 7:44 mark that either team would get a basket to begin the second half and that basket would be credited to the Dragons. That basket by Jacky Volkert would propel an 8-0 run for MSUM which would build their back to double-digits.
 
MSU Moorhead would go on to outscore Concordia 20-6 over a five minute span to give them their biggest lead of the game of 19 points. CSP would cut the Dragons lead down to 14 heading into the final quarter of play after a 3-pointer by Lauren Shifflett and a pair of free-throws by Russell.
 
In the final quarter of play, Concordia would try to chip away at the MSUM lead but when CSP would score, the Dragons would respond with a basket of their own. The Golden Bears would get as close as eight with 2:22 left after a 3-pointer by Fredenburg, but again Moorhead would answer with a triple of their own giving them back their double-digit lead which they would hold for the remaining time.
 
Concordia committed a season-low eight turnovers but they struggled again from distance going 7-23 (30.4%) from beyond the arc. The Dragons had the hot hand on offense as they shot 48.1 percent from the field and went 11-18 (61.1%) from 3-point range.
 
CSP's bench did outscore MSUM's bench 21-13 and also held a 28-16 points in the paint advantage.
 
MSU Moorhead was led by Cassidy Thorson and Morgan Ham as they each finished with 17points and both drained four 3-pointers in the win. Ham went a perfect 4-4 from downtown. Drew Sannes finished with a double-double as she scored 15 points and pulled in 14 rebounds. Jacky Volkert rounded out the double-digit scorers as she scored 13 points and dished out a team-high five assists for the Dragons.
 
CSP is now 23-14 all-time against MSUM with the last four games going in favor of the Dragons.
 
The Golden Bears return to next weekend as they play host to Wayne State on Friday, Jan. 6 at 6 pm and then hosting Augustana on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4 pm.