ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (14-15), the fifth seed in the NSIC South, advances to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinals with an 83-72 win at St. Cloud State (13-14), the fourth seed in the NSIC North, on Wednesday night at Halenbeck Hall.
 
The Golden Bears kept their season alive as they improved to 11-2 in first round NSIC Tournament games and 24-8 overall in tournament action. Concordia also improved their record to 14-16 against the Huskies as they have won five of the past six meetings.
 
CSP will face the top seed in the NSIC South, Winona State, at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday night at the Sanford Pentagon with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Monday.
 
Anna Schmitt helped lead a red-hot offensive attack with a game-high 26 points as she hit 9-13 from the floor with five assists and four rebounds in the win.
 
The team as a whole connected on an efficient 56.6% (30-53) from the floor, including 78.6% (11-14) in the fourth quarter. CSP also hit 7-20 (35.0%) from deep and 76.2% (16-21) from the free throw line.
 
The Huskies got off to a slow start from the field as they hit just 31.3% (5-16) in the first quarter before finishing the game at 42.6% (26-61).
 
In addition to the shooting edge, CSP also out-rebounded SCSU 32-27 and out-scored them by a wide margin at 34-18 in the paint.
 
Joining Schmitt at the 20+ plateau was Lauren Shifflett as the sophomore guard delivered 22 points on 8-16 shooting from the field. Shifflett connected on a game-best four threes as she also chipped in two steals.
 
Mishayla Jones remained hot as she put up 16 points on 6-12 from the field to go along with six assists and four boards while Kyrah Fredenburg cleaned up the glass with 13 rebounds as well as six points.
 
Karissa LeCaptain led the way for the Huskies with 20 points while Andrea Thomas followed close behind with 18 points.
 
After a slow start offensively for both teams, Concordia strung together three straight baskets to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 6-2 lead. St. Cloud State took the lead back with five in a row, but the Golden Bears responded with a run of their own with the next six points and nine of the next 11. The Huskies did grab a last-second bucket, however, to bring the score to 15-11 after one.
 
Concordia continued to maintain a comfortable lead in the second quarter as they pushed it out to nine at the 5:23 mark at 23-14. St. Cloud State turned the tables a bit from there as they went on 9-2 run to cut it to two at 25-23 and eventually pulled as close as one at 28-27 before Caitlyn Russell hit a pair of free throw to make it 30-27 at the half.
 
The Huskies closed the gap back to one early in the third, but CSP held on and remained out front throughout the quarter. The lead remained within two possessions for the duration of the period as Concordia's biggest advantage came at the 6:41 mark at 37-31. SCSU once again shrunk the deficit late in the period as they pulled within one before the Golden Bears took a 50-47 lead into the fourth.
 
The Golden Bears took over in the fourth as they built off of the bucket to end the third to register a 14-3 run to take their first double-digit lead of the night at 62-50. That lead remained above eight over the next four minutes before the Huskies started connecting from beyond the arc to get back in it. They pulled as close as five at 77-72, but Concordia iced the game at the free throw line to claim an 83-72 win on the road.