ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team is just a few days away from hosting their annual Radisson Hotel Classic, as the Golden Bears will play Northern Michigan (4-1) on Nov. 23rd and Jamestown (N.D.) (5-2) on November 25th.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears played their home opener at the Gangelhoff Center on Tuesday, November 13th with a 95-58 win over Wisconsin-Superior. Lindsay Dorr led the team with 22 points on 11-15 shooting, also pitching in seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Sophomore Sidney Wentland also had a breakout game for the Golden Bears, as she scored 20 points off of the bench on 8-10 shooting (4-5 from three), also grabbing five rebounds, dishing out two assists, and recording a steal.
CSP shot a season-high 54.1% from the field against the Yellowjackets. The Golden Bears also dominated inside, with a 45-31 edge in rebounds and a 52-28 margin in points in the paint. CSP and UWS were tied 32-32 midway through the second quarter, but the Golden Bears went on a 21-6 run to close the half and take a 53-38 lead into the break. Concordia pulled away in the second half, maintaining a 20+ point lead through the third and fourth quarter. The Golden Bears also got good production from their bench, scoring 43 points.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears take a 4-3 record into their matchup with the Wildcats. CSP and NMU faced off last season in the Golden Bears' home opener, with the Wildcats claiming a 56-49 victory. CSP won the previous three matchups in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Northern Michigan comes into their matchup with the Golden Bears with a 4-1 record. The Wildcats have already faced three teams from the NSIC, defeating MSU Moorhead (2nd in the NSIC Coaches' Preseason Poll) and Minnesota State (9th), while falling to Minnesota Duluth (5th). Northern Michigan was picked to finish first in the Preseason Coaches' Poll in the GLIAC South Division, and had two players (Darby Youngstrom and Lexi Smith) named to the Preseason All-GLIAC team. The Wildcats were also recently ranked #24 in the nation in the D2SIDA poll. NMU had a 15-14 record last season, going 11-9 in the GLIAC.
The Wildcats will bring a veteran team to St. Paul, as their roster features six seniors. Northern Michigan features a balanced scoring attack, as they have four players averaging 8+ points a game, but no players averaging 12 or more. Smith leads the team at 11.6 points per game, followed by junior forward Jessica Schultz at 10.8 points a contest. The Wildcats have been stout on defense so far this season, holding opponents to just 35.5% shooting. They have also controlled the rebounding battle, averaging 37.4 boards compared to 28.6 for their opponents.
JAMESTOWN (N.D.) SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have played the Jimmies four times, and have won all four matchups. CSP faced off against Jamestown every year from 2013-2016, with all four games coming at the Gangelhoff Center. The most recent meeting between the two school resulted in a 81-62 Concordia win in the 2016 Radisson Hotel Classic.
ABOUT THE JIMMIES
Jamestown is an NAIA school that competes in the competes in the Great Plains Athletics Conference (GPAC), comes into the Radisson Hotel Classic with a 5-2 record. Jamestown was picked to finish sixth in GPAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, but also was picked as the #16 team in the country in the NAIA DII National Preseason Coaches' Top 25. The Jimmies finished last year with 31-5 mark, setting a school record for wins. Jamestown lost in the quarterfinals of last season's NAIA National Championship.
The Jimmies are led by senior forward Marina Nowak, who is averaging 10.1 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. Nowak also has 18 steals so far this season, good for 2.6 per game. Like the Wildcats, the Jimmies also feature a balanced scoring attack, with six players averaging 6.3 points per game or more.
UJ relies heavily on the three point shot, shooting an average of 25.1 three-pointers per game compared to 17 for their opponents. However, the Jimmies are shooting just 28.4% percent from deep, and have also struggled from the free-throw line, where they are shooting just over 60%. Jamestown's defense has been solid through seven games, allowing an average of 56.6 points per game while scoring 66.6 per contest.
KEY STATS
Senior center Lindsay Dorr has been dominant on the inside so far for the Golden Bears through three games. Dorr is third in the NSIC with 20.7 points per game and 10th with 8.3 rebounds per contest. The Otsego, Minn. native has also been very efficient from the floor, ranking second in the NSIC in FG% by shooting 65.9% percent (27-41).
NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year Anna Schmitt has provided a consistent scoring presence for the Golden Bears, putting up 17,13, and 16 points in the first three games for an average of 15.3 ppg. Schmitt is also averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.
Senior Kyrah Fredenburg has also been a consistent performer for the Golden Bears, as she leads the team in rebounds. Fredenburg is averaging 10.7 boards per game, the third highest mark in the NSIC.
CSP has gotten out to some slow starts this season, but has picked up the pace from the second quarter on in each of their three games. Concordia is outscoring opponents by a margin of 4.3 points in the second quarter, 6.3 points in the third quarter, and 2.3 points in the fourth quarter.
If you can't make it in person to the Radisson Hotel Classis this week, follow along online at cspbears.com/watch.
