ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Golden Bears return home after their four game road trip to host St. Cloud State on Friday, Feb. 3 and then hosting Minnesota Duluth on Saturday Feb. 4. Game times are at 6 pm and 4 pm, respectively. Prior to Saturday's game there will be a co-ed alumni game at 2 pm and then a chance for the alumni to reconvene at Golden Bear Bash. Admission, including food and beverages, is free for all CSP alumni and their families. For more information on Golden Bear Bash, click on the link above.

GOLDEN BEAR BASH
All Concordia-St. Paul and their families are invited to the annual Golden Bear Bash event to be held in conjunction with the women's and men's basketball doubleheader against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. Tickets to the games and admission into the alumni event area inside the arena are free for alumni and their families. Spend time with former classmates, watch the Golden Bears roast the UMD Bulldogs and score some free food and drinks. Kids will enjoy the Comet Kid Zone with a movie and games, so bring the whole family!

ALUMNI GAME
The coed alumni basketball game will be held at 2 p.m. prior to the women's game (4 p.m. tip) and will feature both men and women players from Concordia's past.

IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK
This weekend's games will be centered around the Northern Sun's "It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign in which all spectators will be encouraged to pledge not to drive drunk. This year's event will not be centered around a video submission contest by the league's 16 members and their Student-Athlete Advisory Committees,but instead will focus on the campaign for pledges.

LAST TIME OUT
CSP extended their winning streak to eight games after a pair of wins this past weekend. Concordia first defeated Bemidji State by a score of 68-60 and then followed up with a 90-84 win at Minnesota Crookston.
 
The winning streak is CSP's longest since the nine game winning streak that brought the 2013-14 Golden Bears to the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals (Elite Eight) and has vaulted the team from a 3-5 start in league play all the way to third place in the NSIC South Division standings and fourth in the overall conference.
 
Against Bemidji State, Concordia used a 16-2 run to close out the first half following the second quarter media timeout that would give the Golden Bears a 16 point lead heading into the locker room. From there Concordia would never trail the remainder of the game.
 
CSP finished the game shooting 43.9% (25-57) from the floor and also held a 43-34 rebounding advantage. Bemidji State finished the game 35.6% (21-59) shooting from the floor and 36.4% (8-22) from beyond the arc.
 
Mishayla Jones played outstanding for the Golden Bears as she finished with a career-high 31 points, while adding six rebounds and four assists. Caitlyn Russell recorded her second straight double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She also added three blocks in the win.
 
Bemidji State was led by Aimee Pelzer who scored a team-high 25 points. She also added three rebounds and three assists. Sierra Senske added 10 points for the Beavers and pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The following night, it was a high scoring affair between Concordia and Crookston, but it would be CSP who would come away with a 90-84 win when it was all said and done.
 
Sophomore Anna Schmitt scored a career-high and team-season high 32 points as she connected on 12-of-18 from the field and 5-of-9 from deep while nabbing five steals and producing a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with five rebounds and a block.
 
Caitlyn Russell was a force inside as she finished with 23 points, six rebounds and a blocked shot.
 
UMC was led by Alison Hughes' 30 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field, 6-of-7 from three and 10-of-10 at the line.
 
SCOUTING ST. CLOUD STATE (9-11, 7-9 NSIC)
SCSU SERIES HISTORY
CSP and SCSU will meet for the 31st time on Friday. Concordia is 14-16 all-time against the Huskies having won five of the last six meetings.
 
LAST MEETING VS ST. CLOUD STATE
The Golden Bears and St. Cloud State met twice last season, once in the regular season and then in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. The Huskies took the regular season matchup, but CSP avenged that loss by knocking off SCSU on the road by a score of 83-72 and avancing to NSIC quarterfinals.
 
Concordia kept their season alive as they improved to 11-2 in first round NSIC Tournament games and 24-8 overall in tournament action.
 
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.
 
Karissa LeCaptain led the way for the Huskies with 20 points while Andrea Thomas followed close behind with 18 points. 
 
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State is currently fourth in the North Division standings with a 9-11 overall record and 7-9 conference record.
 
The Huskies have a high-powered offense that averages 75.0 points per game which ranks second in the NSIC and they also average 9.7 3-pointers made per game which ranks first in the conference.
 
SCSU has scored over 100 points in three different games this season. Their highest scoring game came against Bemidji State back on Dec. 3 when they defeated the Beavers 111-107 in St. Cloud.
 
The Huskies are coming off a 1-1 weekend as they fell to Wayne State by a score of 63-75, but bounced back to defeat Augustana in close game by a score of 74-70.
 
Betsy MacDonald leads the way for SCSU as she averages 17.9 points per game which ranks tied for first in the NSIC. She also leads the team in assists at 3.6 per game. MacDonald has drained 61 3-pointers on the season which ranks third in the NSIC.
 
Chelsea Nooker ranks second on the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game while leading the team in rebounds at 6.0 per game. Nooker also leads the team in steals and blocks.
 
Amanda Christianson comes in third on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game.
 
SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH (12-8, 10-6 NSIC)
UMD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears meet the Bulldogs for the 42nd time on Saturday. CSP is 20-21 all-time record against UMD. Concordia is 12-6 at home all-time against Duluth.
 
LAST MEETING VS MINNESOTA DULUTH
After winning the previous four meetings, UMD won the lone matchup against CSP last season in Duluth by a score of 74-64.
 
The Golden Bears played the Bulldogs even through the first, second and fourth quarters, but were done in by a tough third quarter in which UMD outscored CSP by 10 to force Behnke to wait at least one more day to pick up her first win at the helm.
 
Minnesota Duluth hit a red-hot 64.3% (9-14) in the decisive third quarter while Concordia knocked down just 30.8% (4-13) in the period.
 
For the game, UMD hit nearly half their shots from the floor as they hit 49.1% (26-53) while CSP connected on 36.2% (21-58) on the day.
 
Minnesota Duluth also held an edge from deep as they hit 36.8% (7-19) while Concordia hit 29.4% (5-17). In addition, the Bulldogs used a 41-29 advantage on the glass to help guide them to victory.
 
Anna Schmitt continued to light up the scoreboard as she matched her career high en route to leading all scorers with 22 points as she hit 6-13 from the floor and 8-11 from the free throw line on the day.
 
The Bulldogs produced an even more balanced offensive effort as they had five players score ten points or more on the day. Anna Monke led the team with 14 points while Sammy Kozlowski contributed 10 points, four boards, four assists and two steals.
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth currently holds a 12-8 overall record and a 10-6 record in NSIC play, which places them in third place in the North Division standings.
 
The Bulldogs caught fire in the month of December as they went 6-1 in the month. They also put together a five game winning streak from the end of December into early January.
 
Since their winning streak, UMD is 3-4 in their last seven games and are coming off a 1-1 weekend where they fell to Augustana by a score of 63-77, but then responded with a big win over Wayne State by a score of 64-52.
 
Taylor Meyer and Sammy Kozlowski have provided a solid one-two punch for the Bulldogs as they rank first and second on the team in scoring and rebounding, respectively.

Meyer comes in averaging a team-leading 13.6 points per game and a team-leading 5.9 rebounds per game. Kozlowski is currently averaging 13.1 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. She also leads the team in steals with 51 (2.6 per game) which ranks first in the NSIC.
 
Allyson Harris provides a third scoring threat for UMD at 9.3 points per game. Harris also provides a good interior defensive presence with a team-leading 21 blocks.
 
The Bulldogs do a great job of taking care of the ball on offense as they have only committed 230 turnovers on the season which ranks second in the NSIC. They have forced their opponents into 315 turnovers on the year.
 
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 nine different statistical categories in the conference.
 
Kyrah Fredenburg ranks first in rebounds per game at 10.4 while her 8.3 defensive rebounds per game also ranks first. Her 2.1 offensive rebounds per game ranks 10th
 
Anna Schmitt places in three categories as she ranks third in scoring (17.7PPG), sixth in field goal percentage (47.3%), and fourth in minutes played per game (34.7).
 
Caitlyn Russell's 1.8 blocks per game ranks seventh in the conference.
 
Mishayla Jones ranks fifth in steals per game (2.0) and assists per game (4.0).
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Kyrah Fredenburg currently ranks fourth in program history in defensive rebound average (6.0), fifth in rebound average (8.0), seventh in defensive rebounds (453) and 13th in offense rebound average (2.0).
 
Mishayla Jones is only 38 points away from 1,000 career points. Her 329 career assists currently ranks ninth. She has played 2784 minutes which ranks 11th.
 
Caitlyn Russell currently ranks third in blocked shots average (1.4) and her 111 career blocks currently sits sixth on the list.
 
Anna Schmitt has played an average of 34.2 minutes in her first two seasons which ranks second all-time. Her scoring average of 16.3 points per game ranks sixth and her 3.4 assists ranks ninth.
 
Lauren Shifflett has made her mark on the three-point career records as she currently ranks in the top 10 in two different categories. She ranks seventh in 3-pointers made (137) and 3-pointers attempted (387).