ST. PAUL, Minn. -  The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (2-2) won their first game of the Radisson Hotel Classic, defeating the Lake Superior State Lakers (0-3) 83-73 on Friday afternoon at the Gangelhoff Center.
 
This marks the first time that Concordia has defeated Lake Superior State, as they were defeated the last time that these two teams met, which was back in the 1985 season. The Bears got off to a good start leading 17-12 after the first quarter and enlarged their lead to 13 heading into the halftime break. CSP maintained their lead in the third quarter, up by 15 heading into the final ten minutes. The last quarter was an exciting one, as 49 points were scored between the two teams (the most of any quarter), and despite being outscored 27 to 22, the Bears were able to hold on to win 83-73.
 
Nine different players scored for the Bears throughout the contest, which is the most spread out the scoring has been so far this season. Junior Anna Schmitt led all scorers, ending the game with 27 points, shooting 8-14 from the field and a solid 11-12 from the free-throw line. Schmitt also added six rebounds, three assists, and two steals. On the year so far, the Waconia native is 31-33 from the line for a .939 free-throw percentage, which is the second best in the NSIC. Junior Lindsay Dorr had her second double-double of the year, scoring 12 points and securing 13 boards.
 
Other top scorers included freshman Ellie Gess, who scored ten, sophomore Brianna Miller who had nine points and seven rebounds, and senior Haydn Becker and freshman Danielle Schaub each chipped in with seven. As a team, the Bears shot 43.5% from the field and 86.2% from the line, holding their opponents to lower percentages in both categories.  
 
With Friday's 27 points, Schmitt moves up four more spots in Concordia's all-time leading scorer list, as she now sits in the 21^st spot with 1,088 career points.
 
Lake Superior State led the Bears 4-2 in the first quarter, but that was the only lead that the Lakers would have all game. The Bears went on to score ten unanswered points to lead 12-4 with three minutes left in the first quarter. The Lakers cut that lead down to five, after going on a 6-2 run to end the quarter.
 
The Bears came out strong in the start of the second quarter, scoring the first six points to stretch their lead to 11. The Lakers answered back though, eventually narrowing the Bears' lead down to three with a little under three minutes left to go in the half. After that, the Bears went on a 13-3 run to end the half with a thirteen point lead.
 
CSP had a comfortable lead for the majority of the third quarter, leading by 23 at one point. Towards the end of the quarter, the Lakers applied full-court pressure and cut down the lead to fifteen heading into the final ten minutes.
 
The Golden Bears scored the first six in the fourth quarter to widen their lead to 20 again, but after this the Lakers started to chip away. Going on a 13-2 run, the Lakers cut the lead down to nine with five minutes left in the game, but that was as close as they would get to the Bears, as the Bears held on to win by ten.
 
Concordia closes out their Radisson Hotel Classic tomorrow, November 25^th, with a game against #10 Michigan Tech at 4 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center. Michigan Tech is coming off a 95-82 loss against Augustana in their first game of the tournament. If you can't be there in person, follow along online at cspbears.com/watch.