SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – With a 66-56 loss to Winona State (17-12) in the NSIC playoff tournament semifinals, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (13-18) concludes their 2017-18 season. The semifinal finish marks the first time that the Bears have been this far in the NSIC tournament since the 2013-14 season.
 
The Bears held a 10-5 lead with 4:39 left in the first quarter, but the Warriors then went on a nine-point run to take over the lead, which they would hold onto for the rest of the contest.
 
The Warriors were the hot-shooting team throughout the game, connecting on 45.6% (26-57) from the floor, including draining 47.8% (11-23) from deep. They held the Bears to shooting 36.9% (24-65) from the floor and only 20.7% (6-29) from behind the arc.
 
Lindsay Dorr, Anna Schmitt, and Haydn Becker all finished in double figures for the Bears. Dorr scored a team-best 13, hitting six of 11 (54.5%) from the floor. Becker and Schmitt were right behind her with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Hanna Vidlund ended with a game-high four assists.
 
Schmitt ends the 2017-18 season with 563 points, which is the second most of any CSP player in a single season, behind only Anika Whiting, who scored 655 in her 2013-14 season when the Bears advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. After just her junior season, Schmitt sits in third in the CSP all-time scoring list with 1,553 career points.
 
The team shared the rebounding efforts, as six different players ended with 4+ boards. Junior Lexi Lee finished with a team-best six rebounds, which ties her career-high. Becker, Kayla Miller, and Dorr all ended with five. The team held a 12-7 edge in offensive boards, and were able to capitalize on ten points on second chances.
 
The Bears had a strong start, leading 10-5 with 4:39 left in the first quarter. From there, the Warriors would end the quarter on a 15-4 scoring run, taking a 20-14 lead into the second quarter.
 
Winona's Liz Evenochek scored the first four points of the second quarter to increase the Warriors' lead to ten, but the Bears answered with four straight points to get the game back within six. A three later in the quarter from Evenochek would put the Warriors up 11, but then Dorr made a layup and Lee hit a jumper to get the game back in single digits. Winona's Gabie Doud hit a three within the last ten seconds of the half, though, to put Winona State up by ten at the break.
 
The Bears were not able to gain any ground in the third quarter, as both teams finished the quarter with 12 points. Schimtt was the leading scorer for the Bears in the quarter, collecting half of the team's third quarter points, with six.  
 
The teams would again match each other in the fourth quarter, as each team scored 17 points. The fourth quarter was the best shooting quarter for the Bears, as the hit 40.0% (8-20) of their shots from the floor. Unfortunately, the Warriors also shot well in the quarter, connecting on 54.5% of their shots in the final ten minutes. The Bears were able to keep the game within striking distance, but never got closer than eight, going on to fall by ten, 66-56.
 
The Bears ended the year with a 13-18 record, including going 8-14 in NSIC play. Concordia finished on a high-note, winning six of their last seven games, and the six-game win streak that the Bears brought into the semifinal game was their longest of the season.
 
Haydn Becker finishes her career at Concordia with 53 games played, including 13 starts (seven of which were in the last seven games this season, when the Bears won six out of seven) and 158 career points, 133 of which were scored this season. The senior guard transferred from Sioux Falls, and played her junior and senior years with the Golden Bears and has had a breakout senior season, playing a key role for the Bears defensively, on the glass, and from behind the three-point line. Becker compiled 111 rebounds and shot 38.5% from three, the second highest three-point percentage on the team, in the 2017-18 season.
 
Kayla Miller tops off her career at CSP with 85 games played, including starting over half of those contests (48 total). She finishes with 359 career points, 168 of which were scored during her senior season, and 282 rebounds, securing the team's second-most boards in the 2017-18 season, averaging 4.1 rebounds per game. Miller has seen increasing minutes in her final season, averaging 26.2 minutes per game, and ends the season shooting 37.1% from the floor. Miller was a tough defender and always worked hard for an offensive board, compiling 36 throughout the season, which ranked second highest on the team.