Women's Basketball | 2.3.16

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (10-12, 6-10 NSIC) kicks off a four-game road trip this weekend as they travel to Minot State (8-14, 5-11 NSIC) on Friday night and U-Mary (11-13, 5-11 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon.

MINOT SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears enter Friday's matchup with a perfect 4-0 record against the Beavers. CSP first met Minot State back on Feb. 1, 2013 after they joined the NSIC, handing them an 85-65 loss in their only meeting in Minot. Concordia has claimed wins in St. Paul over the past two seasons in addition to a win in the NSIC Tournament two years ago.

LAST MEETING VS MINOT
Last year in St. Paul, Concordia excelled at both ends of the floor as they connected on 53.2% of their shots while holding the Beavers to 29.1% from the floor in an 80-45 win.

Impressively, CSP managed to shoot above 53.0% from the floor in each half while limiting Minot State to below 30.0% in each half.

The Golden Bears dominated in basically every aspect of the game as they held a 38-35 advantage on the glass, a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint as well as an 18-2 advantage on points off of turnovers.

Caitlyn Russell led the way as she matched a then-career high with 16 points on 7-10 shooting for the Golden Bears. Mishayla Jones also filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
 
U-MARY SERIES HISTORY
Concordia and U-Mary will meet for the 16th time in the all-time series as the Golden Bears enter into this weekend's matchup with a record of 10-5. The series is an even 3-3 in six matchups in Bismarck, but CSP has rattled off five wins in six games in the series, including winning the last meeting at U-Mary.

LAST MEETING VS U-MARY
Last season at Gangelhoff Center, Concordia's bench provided a spark in the win as the unit combined to outscore the Marauder bench 28-4 in a 78-74 win.

Despite seeing U-Mary connect on 52.9% (9-17) from three-point range and 48.3% (28-58) overall, the Golden Bears were able to secure the victory.
 
The Golden Bears took advantage of Marauder mistakes as they turned 17 U-Mary turnovers into 19 points while the Marauders collected just seven points off 11 CU turnovers.
With the outcome of the game still very much up in the air down the stretch, Mishayla Jones calmly knocked down 8-9 from the free throw line en route to a team-high 16 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds in the win.

Lauren Shifflett added three threes off the bench while Anika Whiting double-doubled with 15 points and 11 boards.

LAST TIME OUT
Over the weekend, Concordia split with MSU Moorhead and Northern State in St. Paul.

On Friday, the Dragons limited the Golden Bears offensively and held a wide advantage in the rebounding category as they gave CSP a 77-59 loss.

On Saturday, the Golden Bears controlled the game on both ends of the floor as they converted on 45.0% (27-60) from the floor and limited the Wolves to just 34.8% (23-66) on the night in an impressive 83-79 win.

Mishayla Jones was solid in both games with 17.5 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds while Kyrah Fredenburg continued her dominance on the glass with 7.5 points and 11.0 boards over the weekend.

NSIC LEADERS
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 leads the way with a league-leading 10.8 boards per game. Her mark is incredibly 2.0 rebounds higher than any other player in the NSIC.

Anna Schmitt ranks highly in a pair categories as she ranks seventh in scoring (15.3 PPG) and eighth in assists per game (3.7), She leads all freshman in the league in both categories.

Mishayla Jones also ranks in the top-10 in a pair of categories while Shifflett nearly does as well, as Jones sits in fifth in both assists per game (4.0) and steals per game (1.9) while Shifflett ranks seventh in three made per game (2.2) and 11th in scoring (14.3).

In addition, Caitlyn Russell ranks third in blocked shots (1.9) and ninth in field goal percentage (51.0%).