ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (7-15, 4-12 NSIC) are preparing for a pair of road games this weekend when they travel to St. Cloud State (12-7, 9-6 NSIC) to take on the Huskies on Friday, February 2^nd at 6 p.m. The following day the Bears will face Minnesota Duluth (11-8, 8-7 NSIC) at 4 p.m. After this road trip, CSP will host their last two home games of the regular season, when they play Winona State and Upper Iowa on February 9^th and 10^th.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bears are coming off a busy week, going 2-1 with wins against Minnesota State and Bemidji State and a loss against Minnesota Crookston.
 
CSP had their best shooting performance on Tuesday against MSU, connecting on 42.9% of their shots from the field. Anna Schmitt was the leading scorer in the game, finishing with 23 points, while also compiling a season best nine rebounds. Hanna Vidlund and Lindsay Dorr also finished in double digits for the Bears, with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
 
The game was a close one throughout, featuring seven ties and nine lead changes. The Bears trailed by nine in the fourth quarter but went on a 9-0 run, capped off by an Ellie Gess three, to tie the game. Minnesota State took the lead once again and led by three with a minute to play. This is when Schmitt took over, first scoring a three to tie it and then making a last-second, off-balance layup to lift the Bears to a 74-72 win.
 
Against Bemidji State the Bears got off to a slow start, allowing the Beavers to score the first seven points of the game and were trailing by 12 with 2:40 left in the first quarter. CSP then picked up their intensity and went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter, only trailing by four heading into the second quarter. The Bears outscored the Beavers 21-12 in the second quarter to lead by five at halftime. BSU got the game within one with five minutes left in the third quarter, but the Bears held strong, not giving up the lead, going on an 11-0 run to go up by 12. Concordia held on to the double digit lead for the majority of the fourth quarter, going on to win 63-53
 
Schmitt and Gess finished in double figures to lead the Bears, but Concordia's bench played a crucial role in the contest, as Haydn Becker, Lexi Lee, and Ayla Lemke each came off the bench and scored nine points apiece, outscoring BSU's bench 27-19.
 
The following day the Bears were defeated by Minnesota Crookston 75-60. Schmitt was Concordia's leading scorer with 15 points, followed by Lee with a career-high ten. Kayla Miller and Becker were the team's top rebounders, as both ended with career-highs with 11 rebounds.
 
Turnovers and second chance points were costly in the game for Bears. The Eagles forced twenty turnovers in the contest, which resulted in 20 points for them. Crookston also secured 14 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second chance points. Despite these numbers, the Bears led by one at halftime and were within four with six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, before the Eagles took over, going on to win by 15.
 
 
ST. CLOUD STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Bears own a 15-16 record against St. Cloud State, but have won nine out of 15 conference contests against the Huskies. CSP has been especially successful against St. Cloud in recent years, winning six of their last seven matchups, including three wins on the road. When playing in St. Cloud, the Bears are an even 6-6 and their last loss against the Huskies was on January 3^rd, 2016 when playing in St. Cloud.
 
LAST MEETING VS SCSU
In last year's matchup the Bears were on the winning end of an 88-75 decision. The Bears were incredibly efficient in the win, shooting 58.8% (30-51) from the floor, 60.0% (12-20) from three, and 76.2% (16-21) from the line. The offense was also an unselfish one, as the team tallied 26 assists throughout the contest, as Mishayla Jones dished out 14 herself, which is tied for the third most in any Concordia game. Four Golden Bears finished with double digit points in the contest, with Anna Schmitt and Caitlyn Russell leading the way with 24 and 21 points, respectively. Russell shot especially well, connecting on nine of 11 from the field (81.8%). Jones and Brianna Miller were the last two to end in double figures, combining for 26 points.
 
The Bears got off to a good start in the contest, scoring the first eight points of the game. Within four minutes CSP was up by 11, and despite giving up the last five points in the quarter, still led by eight after the first ten minutes of play. The Bulldogs scored the first four points of the second quarter to get the game within four, but the Bears regained a double digit lead with four minutes left in the half and led 46-32 at the break. Concordia held onto their double digit lead throughout the majority of the second half, but midway through the fourth quarter the Huskies crept back in and with a little over four minutes left it was a five point game. The Bears played solid defense for the rest of the game and hit all eight of their free-throw attempts in the final minute to seal the 88-75 victory.


ABOUT THE HUSKIES
St. Cloud State is 12-7 on the year and 9-6 in the conference. The team plays their best at home, posting a solid 7-2 home record. The Huskies are coming off a 76-74 overtime loss against #8 Augustana on Saturday afternoon when they shot 42.4% from the field while holding the Vikings to a 36.5% field goal percentage. The Huskies also outrebounded Augustana, holding a 48-35 advantage on the glass. The Vikings led by eight with three minutes left, but the Huskies worked their way back and hit a three with four seconds left to send it to overtime. In the overtime the game was tied at 74 apiece with just seconds left before Augustana hit a pair of free-throws at the end to win it.
 
The Huskies are averaging 65.3 points per game while shooting 41.5% from the field and 37.2% from beyond the arc. St. Cloud averages 5.1 more rebounds per game than their opponent and, at the same time, averages 2.1 less turnovers and 2.5 more steals per game.
 
Senior guard Andrea Thomas is the leading scorer for the Huskies, averaging 12.4 points per game while also leading the team in assists with 2.3 per game and steals with 34 on the year. Freshman Tori Wortz is not far behind Thomas, averaging 10.5 points per game. Sophomore forward Brianna Johnson is the team's top rebounder, averaging 5.5 boards per game.
 
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH SERIES HISTORY
Since playing Minnesota Duluth starting in 1976, the Bears have a 21-21 all-time record against the Bulldogs. In the past ten years Concordia has won 11 of the 15 times that they have played each other, including winning five of the last six. Of those last six matchups, four have been decided by eleven points or less. When playing the Bulldogs the Bears fare better when at home, posting a 13-6 home record, compared to a 5-6 record when playing in Duluth.
 
LAST MEETING VS UMD
The Bears won last year's matchup by a score of 70-59 at the Gangelhoff Center. The Bears shot well in the contest, hitting 51.9% (28-54) of their shots and scoring 40 points in the paint, compared to their opponent's 22. Russell scored the most for the Bears, finishing with 24 points while shooting 55.6% (10-18) from the floor. Schmitt and Jones also ended in double figures for CSP.
The first quarter went back-and-forth, until the Bears scored the last eight of the quarter to lead 19-14 at the end of the first frame. The second quarter was similarly close which resulted in a two-point game in favor of the Bears heading into halftime. Starting the second half, the Bulldogs scored first tying the game. Towards the end of the quarter the Bears went on a 9-0 run to give them a ten point lead. Russell scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to stretch CSP's lead to 14 and the Bears held on to their double digit lead for the rest of the game, going on to win 70-59.
 
 
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth is 11-8 on the year and 8-7 in the conference. The Bulldogs have posted a 6-2 home record, but have lost their last four straight. They are most recently coming off a 76-70 loss against Wayne State, when the Wildcats shot 50.0% from the field and capitalized on 30 points from the free-throw line.
 
The team averages 66.1 points per game while shooting 38.6% from the field. The Bulldogs are shooting 34.1% from three and are averaging 6.3 threes per game. They are averaging 38.4 rebounds per game, which is less than their opponents, but are averaging 4.9 fewer turnovers and 3.2 more steals per game.
 
Junior guard Sammy Kozlowski is the only Bulldog averaging double figures with 11.1 points per game. She is also their leader in assists, with 91 on the year, and steals, with 36. Minnesota Duluth spreads out their scoring, as the other four starters are all averaging between 8.7 and 9.9 points per game. Freshman Sarah Grow is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 6.0 boards per game.
 
KEY STATS
-Anna Schmitt continues to pace the conference in scoring, averaging 20.4 points per game. The junior guard averaged 18.0 points last week, scoring 23 against MSU.
-Schmitt also ranks first in NSIC in free-throw percentage (.917), eighth in three-point percentage (.441), sixth in threes per game (2.1), 14^th in assists per game (2.8), and eighth in minutes played (32.5). Nationally, Schmitt ranks 11^th in points per game, fifth in free-throw percentage, and 14^th in three-point percentage.
-Junior guard Hanna Vidlund scored 16 points against MSU while also tallying seven assists, which ties her career-high.
-Freshman Ayla Lemke put together a solid performance against Bemidji State, coming off the bench to score nine points, secure nine boards, and record five blocks, which is a career-high for the 6-2 forward and a season-high for the team.
-Lexi Lee recorded a career-high ten points against Minnesota Crookston, while also dishing out three assists.