ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (4-1) defeated Jamestown (N.D.) (5-3) by a score of 76-59 Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Radisson Hotel Classic at the Gangelhoff Center.
With the 4-1 start, CSP has their best record in the first five games of season since 2009-2010, when the Golden Bears started the season with ten straight wins. After dropping the opening contest of the season, Concordia has reeled off four straight victories.
CSP had three double digit scorers in the win, led by Lindsay Dorr who collected a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Anna Schmitt scored a season-high 19 points and also pitched in a season-best six assists. Sidney Wentland put up 12 points, and was active on defense with two blocks and two steals.
Following similar pattern to their first four games of the season, the Golden Bears started off slow, but heated up in the final three quarters. The Jimmies scored six of the first seven points of the game as Concordia was held without a field goal for over four minutes to start the game. Jamestown led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The Golden Bears would shoot markedly better in the remaining quarters, as they shot 53.3% in the second, 50.0% in the third, and 69.2% in the fourth.
The second quarter was a different story from the first, as the Golden Bears outscored the Jimmies 21-7. CSP drained a trio of three-points shots in the quarter, and shot an efficient 8-15 from the floor after going 2-16 in the first 10 minutes of the game. CSP used a 16-3 run to take control of the game and had a 29-16 lead at halftime.
The pace of the game picked up to start the third quarter, as both teams ran the floor and were able to get open shots. A mini-spurt by Jamestown brought the Jimmies within eight at 30-22, but the Golden Bears were able to solve the Jimmies' press and go on 20-6 run to take a 50-28 lead late in the third.
With Jamestown employing full-court pressure nearly the entire game, Concordia was able to rack up fast-break points throughout the game. The Golden Bears had a 17-0 edge in fast-break points, which was also the difference in the final score.
With a 52-32 lead entering the fourth, Concordia was able to hold off a strong shooting quarter by the Jimmies and coast to the victory. Jamestown was able to hit four three-point shots in the final quarter, but didn't close the margin to less than 13 points as CSP was an ultra-efficient 9-13 from the floor in the fourth.
Concordia dominated in points in the paint, as the Golden Bears racked up 40 points in the lane compared to 28 for the Jimmies. The Golden Bears also won the rebounding battle, securing 43 boards to 32 for Jamestown. The senior Dorr was once again a big part of the game down around the basket, as she increased her scoring average to 21.4 points per game on 61.8% shooting for the year.
The Golden Bears will begin their conference season next weekend as they travel to Mankato to take on Minnesota State on Saturday, December 1st at 2 p.m. If you can't make it to the game, you can watch the CSP's conference opener at cspbears.com/watch.
