MARSHALL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-3, 1-2 NSIC) collected their first conference win of the season as they defeated Southwest Minnesota State (4-4, 1-2 NSIC) 66-63 at the R/A Facility on Saturday evening.
Sidney Wentland blocked a last-second three point attempt by the Mustangs and Anna Schmitt scored a season-high 26 points to lead the Golden Bears to victory. Down seven with just over three minutes to play, Concordia closed the game on 12-2 run to secure their first NSIC win.
Lindsey Dorr was also a big contributor for the Golden Bears, collecting 17 points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks. Wentland, Lexi Lee and Ellie Gess all pitched in six points a piece for CSP.
Caleigh Rodning led the way for the Mustangs with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Abuk Akoi added 10 points and six steals.
The Mustangs galloped out to a quick 5-0 start, but Concordia would go on a 10-1 run to take a 10-6 lead. The Mustangs would counter with 9-4 run of their own, closing the first quarter with a 15-14 lead.
Southwest would extend their run in the second quarter, as they scored the first eight points of the quarter before a Schmitt three made it 23-17. Eight more Mustangs points in a row brought the score to 31-17, capping a total run of 25-7 for SMSU to give them a 14-point lead midway through the second quarter.
The Golden Bears clamped down on defense for the rest of the quarter, allowing just three more points and going on a 10-3 run of their own to clip the margin to 34-27 at halftime.
The Golden Bears came out in the second half and with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 34. CSP took their first lead since the first quarter as Lee sank a three to make 38-36 with 6:09 to go in the third. Schmitt then made back-to-back layups, allowing CSP to take their largest lead of the game to that point (42-37) into the third quarter media timeout. Schmitt scored nine points in the quarter as CSP took a 49-48 lead into the fourth.
After the Mustangs hit two three's to start the final quarter, Schmitt answered back with five straight points to tie the game at 54. SMSU then capitalized on a pair of Golden Bear turnovers, going on a 7-0 run to take a 61-54 lead with just over three minutes to go. CSP answered back with 7-0 run of their own, capped by a three-point shot by Lexi Lee that tied the game at 61.
Schmitt would then score five straight points, making a clutch layup with under a minute to go and making three of four free throws to give CSP a 66-61 lead. Rodning would sink a contested layup off of the glass with eight seconds to go, and Schmitt missed two free throws to give SMSU a chance to tie the game. Rodning took the ball down the court and got the shot off in time, but Wentland's block gave CSP the win.
Concordia's defense locked the Mustangs down in the second half, holding them to 26.7% shooting the third quarter and 31.7% in the fourth. Concordia made the comeback by shooting 57.1% and 50.0% in the final two quarters. CSP also dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 47-34.
Concordia will host their first conference games of the season as they welcome in Upper Iowa (3-7) on Friday, December 14th at 5:30 p.m. and Winona State (4-3) on Saturday, December 15th at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be played at the Gangelhoff Center and will be live streamed at cspbears.com/watch.
