ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team will play their last non-conference game of the season against Palm Beach Atlantic on Monday, December 18^th at 4 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center. After this contest, the Bears will have an extended break before returning to conference play on December 30^th and 31^st.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears are coming off a 45-70 defeat at Minnesota State, when they were held to only 16 points in the second half to even up their all-time series record against the Mavericks at 18-18.
 
Junior Kayla Miller led the Concordia offense, scoring 11 points, while freshman Ellie Gess upheld her season average, scoring ten points. Junior Lexi Lee shot an impressive 57.1%, scoring a career-high nine points while also contributing two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
 
The Mavericks shot well, connecting on 41.3% (26-43) of shots from the field and 50.0% (6-12) from three, whereas the Bears were held to shooting 36.5% (19-52) from the field and a mere 20.0% (4-20) from behind the arc. Minnesota State was also aided by 23 points off of CSP's 18 turnovers and 15 points off of offensive boards, as they held a 48-26 rebounding advantage.
 
PALM BEACH ATLANTIC SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting between the Bears and the Sailfish.
 
ABOUT THE SAILFISH
Palm Beach Atlantic is 1-8 in the 2017-18 season and 0-5 in the Sunshine State Conference. The Sailfish return 11 players to their veteran team that includes seven juniors and seniors, while also adding two more freshman for this season.  The team averages 61.4 points per game, which is 13.3 less than their opponents. On the season, they are averaging a 35.9% field goal percentage and a 29.6% shooting percentage from three. Their opponents also average 4.6 more rebounds per game.
 
Among their returning players is the leading scorer for the Sailfish, senior guard Hannah Grim. The Minnesota native averages 19.7 points per game, while also securing 6.7 rebounds. No other player is averaging double figures for Palm Beach Atlantic, but four players are averaging between 7.3 and 8.8 points per game. Sophomore Ciara Cumbie is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 8.8 boards a game.
 
KEY STATS
-Anna Schmitt leads the NSIC in scoring, averaging 21.8 points a game. Schmitt also ranks sixth in field goal percentage (.508), second in free-throw percentage (.923), and fifth in threes per game (2.2).
-Freshman Ellie Gess is the only other Golden Bear to average double figures, with 10.0 points per game. The Bloomington native ranks 8^th in the NSIC in threes per game (1.8) and 11^th in minutes per game (30.8), which is the most of any CSP player.
-Lindsay Dorr continues to lead the Bears in rebounding, currently averaging 6.5 boards per game.
-Kayla Miller led CSP on offense in their latest contest against Minnesota State, scoring 11 points, which was the second time she has been in double digits for the Bears off the bench this season.
-Junior Lexi Lee scored a career-high nine points against the Mavericks, shooting 57.1% from the field.
-The Golden Bears are consistently averaging higher free-throw percentages than their opponents, shooting .747 from the line, which ranks sixth in the conference, compared to their opponents .682 average.