ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (4-9, 1-6 NSIC) will play their next four conference games on the road, as they head to Wayne State (12-4, 6-2 NSIC) and #12 Augustana (12-0, 8-0 NSIC) this weekend and will travel to Upper Iowa and Winona State the following weekend. This will be the second time that Concordia faces each of these opponents this season, as they are all South Division teams.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears are coming off a 0-2 conference weekend, falling to both #19 Northern State and MSU Moorhead at home. Junior Anna Schmitt and sophomore Brianna Miller were consistent performers in both games, as Schmitt averaged 18.0 points a game and tallied 11 assists, and Miller averaged 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Miller shot especially efficiently, connecting on 65.0% (13-20) of her shots from the field, 50.0% (1-2) from three, and 100.0% (2-2) from the line.
 
On Saturday against Northern State, the Wolves outscored the Bears in every quarter, eventually winning 86-71. The Bears shot fairly well themselves throughout the game, connecting on 40.7% (24-59) from the field and 36.8% (7-19) from three, posting their best percentages since playing Upper Iowa on December 8^th. The Wolves, however, capitalized on 16 more points from the floor and scored 14 more points in the paint than the Bears. Northern State also dominated the boards, holding a decisive 46-22 rebounding edge. Back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter from Haydn Becker and Schmitt got the Bears within eight points of the Wolves with 5:17 still left in the game, but Northern State held on, eventually winning by 15.
 
The following day, the Bears held the lead for the majority of the second half, but the Dragons made a late comeback, going on a 13-6 point run in the final minute and a half of the game to win 66-60. Seven different CSP players scored in the contest, with three of them reaching double figures. Schmitt led the way with 15 points, but Miller and Dorr were right behind her with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Dorr also helped out on the boards, tallying seven rebounds, three of which were offensive. Junior guard Kayla Miller led all rebounders in the game, though, compiling a career-high ten boards.   

 
WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
With the 79-62 loss to the Wildcats earlier this year, the Bears dropped slightly below .500 in their series history with Wayne State, as CSP now holds a 19-20 record against their Nebraska opponents. Also with the win in early December, the Wildcats have won the last two straight.  The Bears last defeated Wayne State on December 3^rd, 2016, when the Bears outscored their opponents by 12 in the final quarter to win 86-66 at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Nebraska. CSP is 7-10 when playing the Wildcats on the road, but have gotten their last two wins against the Wildcats when playing them in Wayne.

 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
The Bears were defeated by Wayne State earlier this year by a final score of 79-62. The Bears got down early in the first quarter, but quickly bounced back in the second quarter, as a jumper from Schmitt tied up the game heading into halftime. The Wildcats had a strong third quarter, though, holding the Bears to only 12 points, compared to scoring their own 23. Helping the outcome was the fact that WSC shot a noteworthy 56.6% (30-53) from the field and 84.2% (16-19) from the line. The Bears were held to a lower field goal percentage (36.2%), but connected on more threes (42.9%) than their opponents (30.0%).
 
The Bears were led by Anna Schmitt in the contest, as she scored 24 points while also recording four assists. Freshman Ellie Gess recorded her career-high 17 points in the contest, shooting 46.1% (6-13) and 57.1% (4-6) from beyond the arc. Sophomore Brianna Miller was the final Golden Bear to reach double figures in this game, scoring ten.

 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is 12-4 on the year so far and 6-2 in the NSIC. Since playing the Bears in December, the Wildcats have gone 4-1, defeating U-Mary, Minot State, Sioux Falls, and Southwest Minnesota State, while falling to #14 Augustana.
 
As a team, Wayne State is averaging 76.4 points per game, which is the second highest average in the NSIC, while holding their opponents to 63.0 points. They are shooting 43.9% from the field, which is the fourth highest in the conference and are first in the NSIC in free-throw shooting, hitting 79.9% of attempts from the line, while also making an average of eight more free-throws than their opponents. The Wildcats are averaging 38.8 rebounds per game, which is 2.3 more than their opponents and an average of 7.6 more than Concordia.
 
The Wildcats return 11 players and add five new faces to this year's team. Among the returners is senior forward Paige Ballinger, who was the team's leading scorer last season and currently leads the team in scoring this year with 11.4 points per game. Ballinger also averages 5.8 rebounds a game and has 36 blocks in her sixteen games played. Senior Maggie Schulte also averages double digit points, with 10.6 per game, and leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 a game.
 
AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Bears fell to Augustana earlier this season to fall to 11-15 in their all-time history against the Vikings since playing them once in 1994 and 2001 and then regularly since 2004. CSP is 7-3 against Augie at home, but only 2-9 when playing them in Sioux Falls. Concordia last defeated Augustana last season on January 7^th, winning 83-77 at home. Before that victory, the Vikings had won the last four straight. The last time that the Bears have beaten Augustana in Sioux Falls was in December of 2013.

 
LAST MEETING VS AUGIE
CSP last faced the Vikings on December 1^st, 2017 when Augustana defeated the Bears 72-50 at the Gangelhoff Center. Concordia did not shoot well in the contest, being held to only 32.1% (17-53) from the floor, 27.3% (9-33) from three, and 43.8% from the line (7-16), whereas the Vikings shot better in every category, capitalizing on 11 more field goals. Second chance points were also costly, as Augie scored 15 points off of offensive rebounds, compared to CSP's one.
 
The Bears were outscored by seven in the first two quarters to trail by 14 at the half. CSP fared a little better in the second half, posting a better field goal percentage and scoring more points, but it was too late as the Vikings went on to win by 22. Gess was the leading scorer for the Bears, scoring 16 points, and Schmitt finished with 14. Dorr led the rebounding efforts, with six.

 
ABOUT THE VIKINGS 
The Vikings remain undefeated at 12-0 and 8-0 in NSIC play, which is the best start in program history for Augustana. Coaches around the nation have made note and rank the Vikings as the #12 team in the country. Since playing the Golden Bears in early December, Augie has posted wins against Minnesota State, Minot State, U-Mary, Wayne State, and most recently against Southwest Minnesota State on December 30^th and Sioux Falls on December 31^st.
 
As a team, Augustana is averaging the most points in the NSIC, at 83.9 points per game, which is an average of 21.2 points more than their opponents. The team also ranks third in field goal percentage (45.8%), fourth in three-point percentage (36.1%), second in free-throw percentage (78.7%), and first in turnover margin (7.42).

 
The Vikings have an experienced roster, returning 14 players from last year's season, including all of last year's starters and leading scorers. Augustana presents a balanced offense, as four different players are averaging between 11.8 and 14.2 points per game. The team also applies heavy pressure on defense, forcing 250 turnovers so far this season. Senior guard Logan O'Farrell does a little bit of everything for the Vikings, as she leads the team in minutes (27.6), scoring (14.2), and steals (54), while being tied for the most rebounds (6.2), and having the second most assists (47). Junior center Shelby Selland is tied with O'Farrell for the highest rebounding average with 6.2 boards per game. Selland also averages 12.3 points per game and has a team-leading 25 blocks on the year so far.
 
KEY STATS
-Junior guard Anna Schmitt returned to play after a few games off due to an injury and picked up right where she left off, leading the Bears both days with 21 points against #19 Northern State and 15 points against MSU Moorhead. Schmitt also averaged 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game over the weekend.
-Schmitt is ranked first in the conference in scoring (21.1 ppg), ninth in field goal percentage (45.4%), third in free-throw percentage (89.6%), fifth in three-pointers per game (2.2), ninth in assists per game (3.1), and ninth in minutes per game (32.0).
-Brianna Miller was named CSP Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging 14.5 points per game in the last two contests, scoring a career-high fifteen against Northern State. Miller shot 65.0% in the last two games and had a career-high eight rebounds and four assists against MSU Moorhead.
-Senior Haydn Becker scored a career-high 14 points against Northern State, while also securing a career-high five rebounds, which led the Bears in that game.
-Lindsay Dorr was the third CSP player to be in double figures against MSU Moorhead, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds, three of which were offensive. Dorr ranks 14^th in the conference in rebounding, averaging 6.5 boards a game.
-Junior Kayla Miller compiled a career-high ten rebounds against the Dragons to lead all rebounders in the contest.