ST. PAUL, Minn. -  The Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (4-11, 1-8 NSIC) will be looking for their second and third conference wins of the season as they travel to take on U-Mary and Minot State this weekend. They will first face U-Mary on January 12th at 6 p.m. before playing Minot State the following day at 4 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears are coming off a tough weekend of conference play, as they fell to both Wayne State and #12 Augustana. Their opponents held the advantage in field goal percentage, draining 50.4% (58-115) of their shots, compared to CSP's 35.7% (45-126). However, Concordia did outrebound their opponents, holding a 78-67 edge on the glass, and secured an impressive 35 offensive boards, posting a season-high 18 offensive rebounds against Wayne State.
 
The Bears fell to 19-21 in their all-time series history against Wayne State with the 72-47 loss in Nebraska on Friday evening, and have now lost their last three contests against the Wildcats.
 
CSP got down early in the first quarter, as Wayne State took an early 8-2 lead heading into the first media timeout. The Bears rallied though, going on a 12-2 run to end the quarter, giving them a 14-10 advantage after the first ten minutes of play. The second quarter did not go as favorably for the Bears, as they were outscored 24-9 to head into the break trailing 34-23. The Bears started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to get the game within six with 5:57 left in the quarter, but that was as close as they could get, as the Wildcats went on to win by 25.
 
Three Concordia players ended in double figures in the contest. Junior Anna Schmitt led the way with a team-high 13 points, followed closely by junior Kayla Miller, who finished with 12, and sophomore Brianna Miller, who ended with 10. Junior Lindsay Dorr led the rebounding efforts, finishing with a game-high nine boards for the Bears, six of which were on the offensive end.
 
Concordia took on #12 Augustana the following day in Sioux Falls. The Vikings got off to a hot start, going on a 12-0 run to start the game. Schmitt hit a three to get CSP on the board, but the Vikings soon regained their double digit lead with 3:08 left in the first quarter, and retained this double digit lead for the rest of the game. After the first ten minutes of play, the Bears trailed 25-9, and the Vikings continued their tough defensive pressure to build up their lead in the second quarter to lead by 23 at halftime, 51-28. Augustana maintained their lead in the second half, cruising to 85-66 victory.
 
Brianna Miller continued her streak of solid performances for the Bears, scoring a career-high 18 points, to make that her fourth straight game in double digits. The Lakeville native also finished with seven rebounds and four assists and shot 66.6% (8-12) from the field, including hitting two threes in three attempts. Also contributing was Schmitt who hit four out of her five three-point attempts (80.0%) to end with 12 points for the Bears, and freshman Danielle Schaub, who scored a career-high ten points.
 
 
U-MARY SERIES HISTORY
The Bears hold a 12-4 all-time series history with the Marauders since playing them consistently since 2007. CSP has won the last five straight, four of which were by ten or more points, and three of which were by 15+ points. Since 2007, the Bears have played very well against the Marauders at home, posting a 7-1 home record, but are a less dominant 4-3 when playing in North Dakota. The last time that Concordia has lost to U-Mary was in February of 2012 in Bismarck.
 
LAST MEETING VS MARY
The last time that these two teams met it was a tight first three quarters, as the Bears trailed by one at the half (32-31) and three after three quarters (48-45). Concordia then erupted in the fourth quarter, scoring 33 points to go on to defeat U-Mary by ten (78-68).
 
The two teams shot similarly from the floor and from three, but the Bears really capitalized on points from the line, scoring 31 points in 34 attempts, which was good for a 91.2 percentage. 24 of those free points came in the second half. CSP also played some good defense, forcing 16 turnovers, which turned into 18 points off of these Marauder mistakes. Mishayla Jones led all scorers in the game, with 19 points, while adding three assists, two steals, and a block. Anna Schmitt and Kyrah Fredenburg also ended in double digits for the Bears, with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Jones and Schmitt each shot 92.9% (13-14) from the line, which was key to the win. Fredenburg led all rebounders with 14.
 
ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
U-Mary is 6-10 on the year and 2-8 in the NSIC under sixth year head coach Rick Neumann, with wins against Minot State and Minnesota Duluth. The Marauders have lost their last three, most recently falling to MSU Moorhead by a score of 67-56. The team plays better at home, posting a 5-3 home record, compared to their 1-5 away record.
 
As a team, the Marauders average 64.1 points a game, which is 3.1 more points than their opponents and are shooting a 40.1% from the field. They average 6.8 threes per game, but only shoot 63.9% from the free-throw line. U-Mary secures an average of 39.5 rebounds per game, which is 2.6 more than their opponents, but at the same time the Marauders average 2.5 more turnovers per game.
 
The Marauders return 14 players from last season's roster and welcomes three new faces to this year's team. A trio of sophomores are leading U-Mary, with forward Gabbie Bohl being the top scorer with 17.1 points per game, and she also nabs 6.5 boards a game. Forward Cassie Askvig and guard Lauren Rotunda are the other two sophomores who are averaging double digits for the Marauders. Askvig averages 13.2 points per game while also being the leading rebounder, with 8.9 boards per game. Rotunda is a very versatile player for the Marauders, as she is the team's leader in assists, with 50 so far this season (3.3 per game), and also averages 7.9 boards and 10.0 points per game.
 
MINOT STATE SERIES HISTORY
CSP has only faced Minot State six times in school history, and the Bears have come out victorious in five out of those six contests, losing 71-66 in February of 2016. Concordia is a perfect 3-0 against Minot State at home, and are 1-1 against the Beavers when playing in North Dakota. In the five games that the Bears have won in the series, they have defeated Minot by ten or more in all but one game.
 
LAST MEETING VS MINOT
The Bears defeated the Beavers in their last meeting, 63-53. In the contest, CSP started with a four point lead after the first quarter, but the Beavers hung right with them in the second frame, as each team scored 16 points, making it 31-27 at the halftime break. Concordia then had a strong third quarter, outscoring their opponents 18-10, and then held on in the fourth quarter for the ten point victory.
 
Anna Schmitt led the offensive efforts, scoring 24 points, shooting 54.5% (6-11) from the floor, 57.1% (4-7) from three, and 80.0% from the line (8-10). Mishayla Jones also had a solid performance, scoring 14 points and tallying four assists and four steals. Kyrah Fredenburg was the last Golden Bear to end in double figures in the contest, recording a double-double with ten points and 13 boards.
 
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Minot State is 6-8 on the year and 3-7 in conference play. In the NSIC, the Beavers have wins over U-Mary, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota Duluth, none of which the Bears have played so far. The Beavers are coming off a 74-65 loss against #19 Northern State and a 72-69 loss against MSU Moorhead.
 
The Beavers are averaging just 0.5 points less than their opponents at 65.3 points per game. The team is shooting 40.5% from the field, which is higher than their opponents, but they are connecting on 2.6 less threes per game. Minot has been strong on the glass, averaging 39.5 rebounds per game, as their opponents are recording only 32.2 a game.
 
Minot has 14 players returning from last year's roster, and has three new players joining the team. Senior forward Holly Johnson is the leading scorer for the Beavers, registering 16.3 points per game. Both Madison Wald and Kristal Flowers are also scoring in double digits for Minot State, both averaging just over ten points a game. In addition to helping offensively, Flowers is the leading rebounder for Minot, averaging 9.1 boards a game. 
 
KEY STATS
-Sophomore Brianna Miller scored a career-high 18 points against #12 Augustana, making it the second weekend in a row where she hit a career-high mark. The Lakeville native led the Bears over the weekend, averaging 14.0 points a game, shooting an efficient 52.0% (13-25) from the field.
-Anna Schmitt averaged 12.5 points a game in the two contests and continues to lead the conference, averaging 19.8 points per game. The junior guard also ranks first in the conference in free-throw percentage (90.1%), sixth in field goal percentage (45.1%), third in threes per game (2.2), and tenth in minutes per game (31.4).
-Junior guard Kayla Miller had two solid performances against Augustana and Wayne State, averaging 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
-Lindsay Dorr remains a force on the glass as she ranks 13^th in the NSIC in rebounding, averaging 6.5 boards a game. The junior center led the Bears in rebounds in their matchup with Wayne State, securing nine boards, six of which were offensive.
-The Golden Bears put together their strongest offensive rebounding efforts of the season in their past two matchups, grabbing a season-high 18 offensive boards against Wayne State and 17 against Augustana.