ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears women's basketball team (16-7, 12-5 NSIC) used a well-balanced offensive attack to top St. Cloud State (9-11, 7-9 NSIC) 88-75 and extending their winning streak to nine games on Friday night, inside the Gangelhoff Center.

Four players reached double figures for the Golden Bears in the win, but it was Mishayla Jones who really stood out as she recorded her first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. It is the programs first triple-double since Rachel Hansen recorded a triple-double (13 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists) back on January 9^th, 2013 also against St. Cloud State. Jones' 14 assists ranks tied for third most in a game.

On the receiving end of many of Jones' assists was Anna Schmitt and Caitlyn Russell as they finished with 24 and 21 points, respectively. Schmitt finished with her 11th 20-point outburst of the season on 7-14 shooting, including 4-7 from beyond the arc playing all 40 minutes of the game. Russell's 21 point game is her fourth consecutive 20+ point game. Russell shot a very impressive 9-11 from the field while also pulling in eight rebounds in the win.

Brianna Miller rounded out the double-digit scorers with a career-high 11 points in 36 minutes of play. Miller was a perfect 3-3 from the floor including 2-2 from distance. She also added a career-high three assists for CSP.

St. Cloud State also had a well-balanced attack as three players finished with double-digit points. Leading the way was Betsy McDonald with 19 points and five rebounds, followed by Chelsea Nooker with 17 points and five rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scoring for the Huskies was Amanda Christianson with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Golden Bears shot the ball extremely well for the game going 30-51 (58.8%) from the field, 12-20 (60%) from 3-point distance which ranks third in program history and 16-21 (76.2%) from the free-throw line. The Huskies attempted 80 shots for the game but only 29 (36.3%) would find the bottom of the net. They also finished 7-26 (26.9%) from distance.

­­Concordia had the hot hand to begin the game as they jumped out to an early 8-0 lead just 59 seconds into the game. The Golden Bears would not stop there as they would build a 19-3 lead at the first media timeout.

Following the media timeout, St. Cloud State would start to fight back as they would go onto outscore CSP 13-5 the remainder of the first quarter. CSP would still hold a 24-16 lead after one period of play after shooting 10-15 (66.7%) from the field including 4-6 from 3-point range. Hanna Vidlund tallied eight first quarter points for Concordia off the bench.

In quarter number two, it was the Huskies with the hot hand to begin the quarter using a 7-2 run to cut the Golden Bears lead to just three. Following the short run by SCSU, CSP would respond with a 6-0 run to build their lead back to nine. Concordia would slowly continue to build upon their lead before the halftime break and would take a 46-32 lead heading into the locker room.

Caitlyn Russell led CSP and all scorers with 12 first half points while Mishayla Jones tallied 11 first half points and nine assists. Chelsea Nooker led the Huskies with 10 first half points.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, both teams' offenses were on track as they combined for 46 third quarter points. CSP still managed to hold a double-digit lead the entire quarter and would eventually get their lead up to 19 points after a 3-pointer by Schmitt with 2:46 left in the quarter. Concordia would take a 16 point lead heading into the final frame of play.

In the fourth quarter of play, St. Cloud State refused to go away without a fight. The Huskies would slowly chip away at the Concordia lead using a 16-5 run to pull within five points with 4:14 left in the game after an and-one conversion by Amanda Christianson.

CSP would not panic as they would respond with a 13-5 run to close out the game and seal the 88-75 victory and their ninth consecutive win. The Golden Bears went 9-12 from the free-throw line three minutes of the game to help close out the win.

Concordia is now 15-16 all-time against St. Cloud State.

The Golden Bears remain at home tomorrow as Minnesota Duluth comes to town for a 4 pm matchup.