ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (6-14, 3-11 NSIC) will complete their five-game homestand against Bemidji State (4-14, 3-11 NSIC) and Minnesota Crookston (5-13, 5-9 NSIC) this upcoming weekend. After this home weekend, the Bears have six more games in their regular season schedule, four of which they will play on the road.

VOLLEYBALL BANNER UNVEILING
Immediately following the conclusion of the women's basketball game on Saturday night against Minnesota Crookston, the Concordia-St. Paul athletic department will honor the Golden Bear volleyball team with an on-court ceremony commemorating their ninth NCAA Division II title in the past 11 years back in December. The team will be introduced individually and several members of the team and administration will speak prior to the 2017 banner being unveiled.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears are coming off a last-second win over Minnesota State on Tuesday night, when junior Anna Schmitt made a three to tie it at 72 apiece, before making an off-balance lay-up with just over a second left to give CSP a 74-72 victory.
 
Schmitt, Hanna Vidlund, and Lindsay Dorr were the leading scorers in the contest and were all particularly efficient on offense. Schmitt finished with 23 points, shooting 60.0% (6-10) from the field and 90.0% (9-10) from the line. The junior guard also ended with five rebounds and two assists and moved up another spot on the CSP all-time scoring list and is now in 12^th with 1,367 career points.
 
 Vidlund was the next highest scorer, ending with 16 points while shooting 50.0% (5-10) from the floor. She played all 40 minutes in the victory and dished out seven assists, tying her career-high that she set against Southwest Minnesota State last Friday. Dorr was the final CSP player in double figures, scoring an efficient 13 points on a 66.7% (6-9) field goal percentage. The junior center was also the team's leading rebounder, collecting seven boards during the game.
 
The game was close for its entirety and featured seven ties and nine lead changes. It was a two point game early in the fourth quarter, but then the Mavericks went on a 9-0 run, forcing CSP to call a timeout. The Bears quickly rallied for nine straight points of their own, capped off by a three from freshman Ellie Gess to tie it at 67 apiece. The two teams traded baskets until Schmitt hit a three to tie it up again at 72 with 43 seconds left. Concordia's defense then got a clutch stop and then Schmitt made a layup with a second left to give CSP the 74-72 win.
 
BEMIDJI STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears are 29-11 when facing the Beavers and are 25-4 when facing Bemidji in conference play. CSP has also won an impressive 26 out of the last 28 matchups and have posted a 15-1 record against BSU at home. The last time that the Bears have fallen to the Beavers at home was back in January of 2015.
 
LAST MEETING VS BSU
When the Bears and Beavers met last in January of last year, CSP was on the winning end of a 68-60 decision. The Bears got an early lead, with the help of Mishayla Jones' ten points in the first quarter. At half, they led 35-19. The second half was a closer one, as the Bears were outscored 41-33, but they were able to hold on for an eight point victory.
 
Jones finished with a game-high 31points, while also adding six rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Caitlyn Russell compiled a double-double in the contest, shooting an efficient 66.7% from the floor to end with 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Anna Schmitt was the final player to end in double figures with ten.
 
The Bears shot a solid 43.9% from the floor in the win, while holding their opponents to shooting only 35.6%. A big second quarter was also key to the victory, as CSP outscored Bemidji 21-11. After the second quarter media timeout Concordia went on a 16-4 run, to give them their big halftime lead, which was enough to hold off a late run by the Beavers in the fourth quarter.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
The Beavers are 4-14 on the year, 3-11 in conference play, and have lost their last eight in a row. The team also has yet to get a road victory so far this season. They are coming off a 68-58 loss against U-Mary at home when the Marauders connected on 28 free-throws, compared to Bemidji's 13.
 
The team averages 57.0 points per game which is 9.9 less than their opponents and are posting worse shooting percentages than their opponents in every category, shooting 34.7% from the field, 29.8% from three, and 70.7% from the line. The Beavers also tend to lose both the rebounding and turnover battle, getting outrebounded by 4.1 rebounds a game and tallying 2.7 more turnovers per game.
 
Bemidji State returns eight players from last year's team and welcomes five new freshman to complete their roster. Freshman guard Brooklyn Bachmann is their leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game, and is there only player averaging double figures. Senior center Sierra Senske is behind Bachmann, averaging 8.8 points a game. Bachmann and Senske are also the team's leading rebounders, both averaging 5.0 rebounds per game.
 
 MINNESOTA CROOKSTON SERIES HISTORY
The Bears own a 23-8 all-time series record against Minnesota Crookston and are 22-5 against them in conference contests. At one point in the series, the Bears won 13 games straight, not losing to the Eagles from February of 2005 to February of 2013. In their past six meetings, five of the games have been decided by seven points or less. CSP has posted a 13-3 home record against Crookston, and, with the exception of February of last season, have not lost to the Eagles at home since March of 2003.
 
LAST MEETING VS UMC
In their last contest against the Golden Eagles, the Bears pulled out a close 90-84 win in Crookston. This win was CSP's eighth straight victory, in what would go on to be a ten-game winning streak for last year's squad.
 
The Bears shot an efficient 47.2% from the field and were led by Schmitt's 32-point game. The Waconia native shot well, connecting on 66.7% (12-18) of her shots from the field, including knocking down five threes, while also racking up a game-high five steals. Caitlyn Russell and Mishayla Jones also ended in double digits, combining for 37 points. Kyrah Fredenburg led the Bears on the boards, compiling a game-high 12.
 
The Eagles took an early ten point lead, as they scored the first ten points of the game. The Bears gradually worked their way back, though, and ended up leading by one after the first ten minutes. The game went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but the Bears didn't give up their lead, going into halftime up by five.
 
Crookston gained the lead about halfway through the third quarter and then the teams traded baskets and the lead, as there were four different ties throughout the quarter. In the middle of the fourth frame, the Bears went on an 8-0 run and were able to hold on after that, going on to win by six.
 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Minnesota Crookston is 5-13 overall and has a 5-9 NSIC record. The team has posted wins against Minnesota State Moorhead, Upper Iowa, Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State, and U-Mary. They are most recently coming off 77-67 loss against Minot State.
 
The Golden Eagles are averaging 64.5 points per game, which is just 4.4 less than their opponents. They are shooting 40.4% from the floor and 30.9% from behind the arc, which are lower percentages than their opponents average, but they post a higher free-throw percentage, shooting 81.5% from the line. The team also tends to get outrebounded, as they average 32.9 boards per game compared to their opponents' 40.1.
 
Crookston returns eight players from last year, as well as adding three freshmen and a transfer student. The Eagles have three players averaging double figures, led by junior Isieoma Odor, who is averaging 13.8 points per game. Senior Micaela Noga is not far behind Odor with 13.1 points a game, and teammate Caitlin Michaelis is the final player in double digits, averaging 11.2 points per game. Odor is also the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.0 boards a game, and has 38 blocks and 19 steals on the season, both of which led her team.
 
KEY STATS
-Anna Schmitt leads the conference in scoring and ranks 11^th in the country with 20.9 points per game. The junior also ranks fourth in the NSIC in field goal percentage (.475), second in free-throw percentage (.909), third in threes per game (2.2), 12^th in assists per game (2.8), and eighth in minutes played (32.1).
-Schmitt compiled her 17^th game in double figures and tenth 20+ point game against Minnesota State on Tuesday, when she finished with 23 points, including the last five points of the game to pull the Bears ahead of the Mavericks in the final seconds.
-Lindsay Dorr ranks ninth in the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.2 boards per game. The junior center is also the second leading scorer for the Bears, averaging 9.2 points per game.
-Hanna Vidlund put together a solid performance against Minnesota State, playing all 40 minutes, while hitting 50.0% (5-10) of her shots from the field and tallying four boards and seven assists. The junior has dished out 15 assists in the past three games.