ST. PAUL, Minn. -  The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (1-2) is preparing to host their annual Radisson Hotel Classic, where they will play Lake Superior State (0-1) on November 24^th at 4 p.m. and then take on #21 Michigan Tech (4-0) the following day, also at 4 p.m. Augustana (2-0) will also be in town, taking on the same opponents at the Gangelhoff Center, playing before the Bears each day.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears are coming off a 56-49 loss against the Northern Michigan Wildcats in their home-opener last Thursday night. Juniors Anna Schmitt and Lindsay Dorr were the top scorers for the Bears, scoring 19 and 13 points, respectively. Dorr also tallied a career-high 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. After Thursday's game, Dorr was averaging 9.7 rebounds a game, which is third highest in the NSIC. Sophomore Brianna Miller had a strong showing as well, pitching in seven points, while also adding three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.
 
The Bears were up 19-18 after the first quarter, but were then outscored 18-9 in the second segment, so the Wildcats entered halftime with an eight point lead. The Bears were able to tie it up again in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points of the half, but the Wildcats answered with ten straight points of their own. CSP was able to cut that lead to five at one point in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats were able to maintain the lead, going on to win 56-49.
 
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears have not played Lake Superior State since the 1985 season, when they were defeated 89-72.
 
ABOUT THE LAKERS
Lake Superior State is 0-1 so far this year with an 80-68 season-opening loss to Malone. The Lakers will face Minnesota-Duluth on Wednesday, November 22^nd before coming to the Radisson Hotel Classic to face both CSP and Augustana. The Lakers have also played in two exhibition games this season, losing to both Western Michigan and Michigan State. In the 2016-2017 season, Lake Superior State went 5-23, winning three games throughout their conference schedule. The team also took on both Minnesota Duluth and U-Mary last season and had tight games against both opponents, losing by eight points to Minnesota Duluth and seven points to U-Mary.
 
The Lakers return ten players from last year's roster and gain nine freshman, forming a young roster with only five players that are juniors or seniors. Three of their top six leading scorers are among their returners, including senior center Tamara Novic, who averaged 13.6 points a game last season. Also returning are sophomores Claire Radtke and Lexie Khon, who averaged 8.1 and 5.9 points per game in the 2016-17 season, respectively. In their season-opener the Lakers had three players score in the double digits. Junior guard Courtney Jacobsen led all scorers with 18 points, Novic added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Radtke scored 11. Also of note was senior forward Natalie Peterson, who came off the bench to score eight points, while adding three assists and a steal.
 
MICHIGAN TECH SERIES HISTORY
The Bears own a 3-6 all-time record against Michigan Tech, with their last victory against them coming on November 21^st, 2015 when they won 86-77 at the Gangelhoff Center. This year's meeting will be the eighth straight year that CSP has taken on this non-conference opponent, as Concordia looks to improve to 3-2 on their home court against the Huskies.
 
LAST MEETING VS MICHIGAN TECH
In last year's contest the Golden Bears fell 76-62 in Houghton, Michigan. CSP was leading 35-33 at the half, but a strong Michigan Tech third quarter, where CSP was outscored 25-11, gave the Huskies a 12 point lead heading into the final ten minutes. The Bears were unable to come back from that deficit, and were down 14 as time expired.
 
During the game, the Bears shot 44.6% from the field and 33% from behind the arc, but only connected on nine out of their 17 free-throw attempts, shooting 52.9% from the free-throw line. Anna Schmitt led all CSP scorers, racking up 23 points, shooting an impressive 66% from the field. Center Lindsay Dorr scored 14 off the bench and Kyrah Fredenburg was a major factor of why CSP held a 39-31 rebounding advantage, as the guard grabbed 18 boards throughout the game.
 
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech is 4-0 on the season and were ranked 21^st in the nation in the WBCA preseason poll. Minnesota Crookston and #19 Minnesota State Moorhead are among the teams that Michigan Tech has defeated so far and the Huskies have won each of their games by 13 points or more. The Huskies will take on Minnesota Duluth on Monday, November 20^th before traveling to St. Paul to take on the Golden Bears and Augustana.
 
Through four games the Huskies are averaging 70 points a game, while shooting 45.3% from the field and 37.3% from three. They return 13 players to their experienced roster, as nine of their 15 players are juniors or seniors. Their leading scorer from the 2016-17 season, Morgan Anderson, graduated, but senior guard Lindsay Winter has taken over, scoring 18.5 points a game while also tallying 9.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Also averaging points in the double digits are senior Kelli Guy and junior Elizabeth Kelliher. Kelliher is averaging 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as well.
 
KEY STATS
-Junior Anna Schmitt continues to lead the NSIC in scoring, averaging 23.7 points per game. The Waconia native is also making her way up the Concordia record book, as her 19 points during the Northern Michigan game moved her up two spots on Conocrdia's all-time leading scorer list. Schmitt now ranks 25^th on that list with 1,061 career points.
-Junior Lindsay Dorr is averaging 9.7 rebounds, which is third highest in the NSIC. Dorr had her first double-double of the season against Northern Michigan, when she scored 13 points and nabbed 14 rebounds, four of which were offensive.
-Brianna Miller did a little bit of everything against Northern Michigan, pitching in seven points, while also adding three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.
-CSP shot 81.3% from the free-throw line in Thursday's game against Northern Michigan, cashing in on 13 points, compared to the Wildcats' five points they scored off free-throws.
 
If you can't make it in person to the Radisson Hotel Classis this week, follow along online at cspbears.com/watch.