ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (2-4, 0-1 NSIC) fell 72-50 to the Augustana Vikings (6-0, 2-0 NSIC) in their conference opener on Friday night at the Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears will play again on Saturday, December 2nd at 4 p.m. against Wayne State.  
 
The last time that the Bears and the Vikings met, the Bears were victorious on their home court, winning 83-77. CSP held the rebound advantage in that game 51-39 and Anna Schmitt led all scorers with 26 and Kyrah Fredenburg led all rebounders with a massive 17. With Friday's loss, the Bears fall to 8-9 all-time in conference games against Augustana and 7-3 against the Vikings on their home court.
 
The Bears' offense was led by freshman Ellie Gess, who scored a game-high 16 points, which also was a career-high for the Bloomington native. Junior Anna Schmitt added 14 points and a game-high four assists. CSP did not shoot incredibly efficiently throughout the contest, shooting 32.1% from the floor, 27.3% from three, and an unusual 43.8% from the free-throw line. Their opponents had better percentages in all three categories going 43.8% from the floor, 30.4% from three, and 81.8% from the line.
 
Another major factor in the game was that the Bears were outrebounded 47-23, allowing the Vikings to score 15 second chance points, compared to the one point Concordia got as a result of an offensive board.
 
 
The Vikings started the game hot, taking an early 13-3 lead over the Bears. After a basket late in the quarter from center Lindsay Dorr, Gess hit two threes to end the quarter, cutting the Augie lead to seven after the first ten minutes. The Vikings led 18-11 after the first quarter, which is the lowest score put up by the Bears this season in first quarter play.
 
 After two minutes of scoreless play to open the second quarter, Gess got the scoring going again for Concordia hitting a jumper to get the game within five, which was the closest that the Bears would get within the second quarter. As the quarter continued, Augustana was able to slowly build up a lead, heading into the halftime break up by 14.  
 
The Bears rallied to start the second half, going on a 13-3 run to open the half to immediately cut the Augustana lead to only four. Schmitt, after being held scoreless in the first half, came out red hot, scoring ten of those 13 points without missing a shot in her first four attempts. The 5-7 guard also had the assist on the other three-pointer in that 13-point run. The Vikings responded, though, scoring the next ten points unanswered. The third quarter featured CSP's strongest shooting percentages, shooting 58.3% from the floor and 57.1% from behind the arc. Despite these high percentages, the quarter ended with the Bears trailing 58-40 as they headed into the final frame.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings continued to add to their lead, at one point leading by 26. The final ten minutes ended up being the most defensive of the game, as only 24 points were scored between the two teams. The Vikings held onto their comfortable lead for the rest of the quarter, going on to win 72-50.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow to finish off their six-game homestand against Wayne State with tip-off at 4 p.m. If you are unable to make it in person, follow along at cspbears.com/watch.