ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (1-2) dropped their home-opener 56-49 against the Northern Michigan Wildcats (2-1) on Thursday night at the Gangelhoff Center.  
 
The Bears are now 4-3 against Northern Michigan, and this was the fifth time that these teams have had games that were decided by ten points or less. CSP had won their past three matchups, one of which ended with the Bears winning by a point in overtime. This time around, the Wildcats held the advantage in rebounds, field goal percentage, and three point-percentage, which was too much for the Bears to overcome.
 
Junior Anna Schmitt was honored before the game for being the 28^th Golden Bear to surpass 1,000 points in a career.  Minutes later, the 5-7 guard continued her scoring prowess, tallying 19 points throughout the game to lead the Bears, going 3-5 from the three-point line and a perfect 6-6 from the line. With the 19 points, Schmitt moved up two spots in the Concordia record book, becoming the 25^th leading scorer in Concordia history.
 
Junior Lindsay Dorr also had a big night for the Bears, compiling her first double-double of the year as she scored 13 points and shattered her career rebounds record, with 14, four of which were offensive. Dorr went to the line ten times throughout the contest and came away with seven points from the line. Teammate Brianna Miller chipped in with seven points, and Hanna Vidlund added a game-high five assists.   
 
For the Wildcats, Erin Honkala provided a spark for Northern Michigan, scoring a team-high 16 points while also having 11 rebounds and four steals on the night. Her teammate, Darby Youngstrom, also had a solid performance, registering 15 points, nine rebounds, and two assists for the Wildcats. The Northern Michigan bench had an active game, scoring 23 points for the Wildcats.
 
CSP got off to a good start, leading 7-2 with a little over two minutes into the game. The Wildcats bounced right back scoring the next eight points to lead 10-7. Points would go back-and-forth for the rest of the first quarter with the Bears leading 19-18 at the first break. The second quarter brought some trouble for the Bears, as they were outscored 18-9 by their opponents. It was tied 23-23 with six minutes left in the quarter, but then Northern Michigan scored the next ten points, to eventually lead 36-28 at the half.
 
The Bears did not dwell long on this eight point deficit, as they came out strong to start the third quarter, scoring the first eight points to tie the game at 36. The Wildcats then responded with ten unanswered points of their own to lead 46-36 with a little over a minute left in the third quarter. CSP cut their lead down to eight before heading into the last quarter.
 
The fourth quarter was played more defensively as neither team was able to score more than nine points. With seven minutes left in the game, a layup from Dorr cut the Wildcat lead to five, but that was as close as the Bears would get the rest of the quarter. The final score ended up as 56-49 in favor of the Wildcats.
 
The Bears are off until they host the Radisson Hotel Classic on November 24^th and 25^th, where Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, and Augustana will come to the Gangelhoff Center to take part in two games apiece. Concordia will take on Lake Superior State first on November 24^th at 4 p.m. and then will play #21 Michigan Tech the following day, also at 4 p.m. If you can't make it in person, follow along online at cspbears.com/watch.