ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball (5-3) team plays their first home conference games this weekend as they host Upper Iowa on Friday, December 9 at 6 pm and then playing host to #12 Winona State on Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm.
 
Over the weekend, Concordia split their two road games, falling to Augustana and then defeating Wayne State to begin conference play. On Friday, the Golden Bears and the Vikings played it close in the first half as CSP led by one at the break but a strong third quarter by AU helped them pull ahead and escape with a 64-50 win. On Saturday, Concordia shot the ball extremely well against Wayne State going 11-18 (61.1%) from downtown. The 61.1 % ranks second all-time in program history for a single game.  Five players drained two or more 3-pointers in the win. Anna Schmitt led the way in the two games as she averaged a team-best 18.5 points and 4.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds while Lauren Shifflett notched 10 points in each game for CSP.
 
Scouting Upper Iowa (0-7, 0-3 NSIC)
The Peacocks were picked to finish 16th overall in the preseason polls and seventh in South Division standings. UIU dropped a pair of conference games over the weekend, falling to Southwest Minnesota State by a score of 70-79 and then fell to Sioux Falls, 58-67 the following day. The Peacocks opened up their season with two tough matchups in the MIAA/NSIC Tournament against Fort Hays State and Missouri Western State. Following the MIAA/NSIC Tournament, two of the next Peacock's three games were against nationally ranked teams.
 
UIU is led by Blair Klostermann who comes in averaging a team-best 14.3 points per game on 41.9% shooting from the floor. Sam Ofstad ranks second on the team in scoring averaging 9.4 points per game while leading the team in assists at 3.1 per game and steals with 11. Upper Iowa's team free-throw percentage of 76.4% currently ranks second in the NSIC.
 
The Golden Bears own a 20-3 all-time record against Upper Iowa, but the Peacocks have won two of the last three matchups. CSP won the first 13 games in the series history. Back on February 12, CSP claimed a 71-55 win in the Dorman Gymnasium, snapping the Peacocks three game winning streak against the Golden Bears.
 
Scouting #12 Winona State (8-1, 3-0 NSIC)
WSU comes in ranked number 16 in the country and first in the NSIC South standings. The Warriors have won eight straight games after losing their season opener in Puerto Rico and are coming off a pair of NSIC victories over Sioux Falls by a score of 70-60 and a commanding win over Southwest Minnesota State by a final score of 60-36. Against Sioux Falls, the Warriors shot 43 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range, while the Cougars shot 27 percent from the field and 31 percent behind the arc. The Warriors knocked down 15 of 17 free throws and the Cougars made 11 of 18. Kayla Timmerman led the Winona State women's basketball team to a 70-60 win over the University of Sioux Falls with a career high 25 points. She added 11 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. Against SMSU, Hannah McGlone scored a game high 12 points and had 8 rebounds. Jenney Tuttle had 11 points as she was 3 of 6 from three-point range. Kayla Timmerman had eight points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocks and dished out six assists.
 
Winona State is led by Tara Roelofs and Kayla Timmerman as they come in averaging 15.2 and 11.6 pointers per game, respectively. Timmerman has also recorded a team-high 23 blocks. Jenny Tuttle and Hannah McGlone each chip in with 8.0 points per game each. McGlone also leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 per game.
 
Concordia owns a 28-16 overall record against the Warriors. However, Winona State has won the last five meetings, which includes three meetings last season. CSP and WSU met twice during the regular season and a third time in the Quarterfinals of the NSIC tournament on Feb. 28 which the Warriors ended the Golden Bears season with a 68-64 win.

Key Stats
- The Golden Bears went 11-18 (61.1%) from beyond the arc in their game against Wayne State. The 61.1% ranks second in program history for a single game.
- The Golden Bears have seen several different players shine in different areas this season with five different players registering in as top-10 performers in eight different statistical categories in the conference.
- Kyrah Fredenburg ranks second in rebounds per game at 10.9 while her 8.8 defensive rebounds per game ranks first. Her 31.8 minutes per game ranks eighth in the NSIC.
- Anna Schmitt places in four categories as she ranks fifth in scoring (16.6 PPG) and eighth in assists per game (4.0), 10th in field goal percentage (46.8%) and third in minutes played per game (34.5).
- Lindsay Dorr currently ranks ninth in field goal percentage at 46.9%. In addition, Caitlyn Russell's 1.3 blocks per game ranks ninth.
- Mishayla Jones ranks fifth in assists per game (4.5), first in steals per game (2.8) and fourth in minutes played per game (34.3).
 
Live stats and video for the two games this weekend can be found at the links above or on the Women's Basketball schedule page.