ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (12-17, 8-14 NSIC) is preparing to travel to Sioux Falls on Sunday, February 25^th where they will take on Wayne State (25-6, 18-4 NSIC) in the NSIC quarterfinals. If the Bears defeat the Wildcats, they will face the winner of the Northern State versus Winona State game, on Monday, February 26^th.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears are coming off an exciting 82-63 victory over St. Cloud State at Hallenbeck Hall in St. Cloud on Wednesday night. The Bears took over the lead within two minutes of the game and led for the rest of the contest, despite the Huskies getting the game within two on multiple occasions.
 
CSP shot incredibly well in the victory, connecting on 58.5% (24-41) of their field goals, including draining 65.0% (13-20) from three, which are their highest shooting percentages of the season. The Bears also capitalized on 21 points from the line, compared to the Huskies' ten.
 
Anna Schmitt led all scorers in the game, finishing with 28 points and junior Hanna Vidlund was also a major offensive threat, scoring a career-high 19 points, hitting six of seven from the floor, including five of six from behind the arc. Haydn Becker added 14, which tied her career-high, draining four of five from three.
 
The Huskies got on the board first, but the Bears answered with the next five points with a layup from Dorr and a three from Becker. Becker's three gave the Bears the lead, which they would not give up for the rest of the game. Concordia closed out the first quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 19-12 after the first quarter.  The Huskies kept the game close for the second quarter and finished the half with six unanswered points to get the game within two, and the Bears would take a 33-31 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Bears shot over 50% in the first half, but shot even better in the second frame, hitting on unreal 66.7% (12-18) of their field goals, including going seven of ten (70.0%) from deep. CSP started the half with a 10-3 run, going up by nine. The Huskies answered, getting the game back within two. After trading seven-point runs, the teams would enter the fourth quarter with the Bears holding a five-point advantage. In the fourth, Concordia extended their lead to seven and back-to back threes halfway through the quarter put the Bears up 13. The Bears took advantage of free-throws at the end of the game, to go on to win by 19.

TOMORROW: @CSPBearsWBB squares off with Wayne State in the #NSICWBB/@SanfordHealth tournament quarterfinals at @SanfordPentagon at 2:30 #BeGolden #WeareCSP pic.twitter.com/x8v6tvcV2G

— Concordia St. Paul (@CSPBears) February 24, 2018

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
With two losses to Wayne State earlier this year, the Bears dropped slightly below .500 in their all-time series history with the Wildcats, as their record is now 19-21. WSC has won the last three matchups of the series and CSP posted their last win against Wayne in 2016, defeating the Wildcats 86-66 on the road. When playing in a neutral site, as they do on Sunday, the Bears are 2-0 against Wayne State.
 
LAST MEETING VS WSC
In their last matchup, the Bears were on the losing end of a 72-47 decision. CSP led 14-10 after the first quarter, but Wayne State had an impressive second quarter, outscoring the Bears 24-9. In the loss, Concordia was dominant on the glass, holding a 42-31 rebounding edge, and despite holding an 18-5 offensive rebound advantage, CSP only scored five second chance points.
 
Turnovers were especially costly in the contest, as the Wildcats forced 25 Concordia turnovers, capitalizing on 36 points from these mistakes. Schmitt led the scoring efforts for the Bears, finishing with 13 points, followed closely by Kayla Miller with 12, and Brianna Miller with ten.
 
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is 25-6 on the year and finished 18-4 in the NSIC. The Wildcats have won their last 11 games, most recently defeating Minnesota Crookston 72-59 at home in the first round of the NSIC playoffs.
 
As a team, Wayne State is averaging 75.9 points per game, which is the second highest average in the NSIC, while holding their opponents to 60.9 points. They are shooting 44.6% from the field, which is the second highest in the conference and are first in the NSIC in free-throw shooting, hitting 79.9% of attempts from the line, while also making an average of eight more free-throws than their opponents. The Wildcats are averaging 37.1 rebounds per game, which is about even with their opponents.

The Wildcats return 11 players and add five new faces to this year's team. Among the returners is senior forward Paige Ballinger, who was the team's leading scorer last season and currently leads the team in scoring this year with 12.1 points per game. Ballinger also averages 6.1 rebounds a game and has 73 blocks in her 31 games played. Senior Maggie Schulte also averages double digit points, with 11.2 per game, and leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.4 a game.

 
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Concordia has a 25-10 record in 14 previous trips to the NSIC Tournament. CSP has taken home the title four times ('05, '07, '08, '14) and has reached the tournament final seven times. The Bears have made it to the quarterfinals three times in the past five years, most recently in 2016, when they fell 68-64 against #8 Winona State.
 
LAST YEAR IN THE TOURNAMENT
The Bears hosted Minnesota Crookston in the first round of the tournament last season, falling 77-73 to the Golden Eagles. Concordia trailed by eight at the half, but the third quarter belonged to the Bears, as they held Crookston to only five points throughout the quarter, while scoring 23 themselves. After allowing the Eagles to score the first basket of the half, the Bears went on a 19-0 run, eventually leading by ten heading into the final frame.
 
Crookston started to chip away at this lead, eventually taking the lead with 1:39 left in the game. The Bears quickly tied it with a free-throw, but then UMC hit a three with 30 seconds left to reclaim the lead. The Bears then missed a three and were forced to foul. With the Eagles knocking down both free-throws, they led by five. The Bears scored and fouled again, with UMC only hitting one free-throw this time. The Bears got off two shots in their final possession, but neither fell and the Eagles won by four.
 
The Eagles shot 50.0% from the field and from deep, which topped CSP's numbers, as the Bears shot 40.9% from the field and a meager 19.0% from three. Caitlyn Russell and Schmitt were the top scorers, scoring 24 and 21 points, respectively. The Bears capitalized on 19 points off turnovers and 17 second chance points, but the Eagles were clutch in the final minutes, coming up with the victory.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS FOR SCHMITT
On Thursday the Northern Sun released their 2017-18 All-Conference teams and Schmitt was named to the First Team for the second straight year. This was the third year in a row that Schmitt has received All-Conference honors, as she was named to the Second Team in her freshman season, including being named Freshman of the Year. This season, Schmitt has racked up 528 points, averaging 19.6 points per game, which ranks second in the conference.
 
KEY STATS
-With the win over St. Cloud State, the Bears improve their NSIC tournament record to 25-10.
-Junior Anna Schmitt scored a game-high 28 points against the Huskies and surpassed the 1,500 career-point mark in the process. Schmitt also dished out nine assists throughout the contest.
-Junior Hanna Vidlund compiled a career-high scoring night, ending with 19 points, while hitting 6-7 from the floor, including 5-6 from deep. This field-goal percentage is the highest of any CSP player posted so far this year.
-Senior Haydn Becker finished with 14 points, hitting four of five from behind the arc.
-Junior Lindsay Dorr ended one point and one rebound shy of a double-double and tallied four blocks, which made it four straight games with 3+ blocks.