ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (13-4, 9-3 NSIC) won a defensive battle at the Gangelhoff Center Saturday afternoon, defeating Minnesota Duluth (10-4, 9-3 NSIC) by a score of 51-47. CSP has now won five straight and is 10-0 at the Gangelhoff Center.
Concordia is now tied for first place in the NSIC South with the Augustana Vikings (17-4, 9-3 NSIC), the next team on the schedule for CSP. The Golden Bears will take on the Vikings on Saturday, January 26th at 3:30 in South Dakota, and the winner will take sole possession of first place in the division.
Lexi Lee scored five big points down the stretch in fourth quarter to help the Golden Bears secure the victory. The senior guard hit a big three and sank two free throws in the last two minutes en route to to 8 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
The Golden Bears played tough defense throughout the game, holding the Bulldogs to 32.8% shooting on the game from the field and 25.0% from three. Concordia was also able to limit UMD to just five made field goals in the fourth quarter.
Lindsay Dorr had another productive game for CSP, as she scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The senior center was active on the defensive end, collecting two blocks and two steals.
Another pair of seniors were also important contributors for the Golden Bears. Kyrah Fredenburg posted her third straight double-digit rebounding game with seven points and 11 boards. Anna Schmitt was CSP's second leading scorer with 11 points, also pitching in six assists. Schmitt has dished out six or more assists in her each of her last three games.
Ann Simonet and Sarah Grow led the Bulldogs with 11 points apiece. Minnesota Duluth was able to force 17 CSP turnovers while only committing 10, but had just a 13-12 advantage on points off of turnovers. Concordia outrebounded UMD 40-36, their fifth straight game outrebounding an opponent.
The Golden Bears got out to an early lead in a low scoring first quarter, as they held UMD to just two points for over seven and a half minutes to start the game. CSP led 8-2 with 2:26 left in the first quarter before UMD closed the gap to one (8-7) near the end of the quarter. Fredenburg hit a three right before the buzzer to give the Golden Bears a 11-7 lead going into the second quarter.
Minnesota Duluth returned the defensive favor to start the second quarter, as they held the Golden Bears scoreless for nearly five minutes. With the Bulldogs leading 16-11 with 5:11 left in the half, Schmitt hit a three to start a run for the Golden Bears. CSP closed the quarter on 10-2 burst to take a 21-18 lead into halftime.
Concordia was able to open up a bit of a bigger lead in the third quarter, and had a 32-24 edge over Minnesota Duluth with 5:16 after a layup by Dorr. The Bulldogs used a 10-3 run to get the game back within one point (35-34) with 1:38 left in the quarter, but an Schmitt eurostep layup right before the third quarter buzzer gave the Golden Bears a 40-36 lead heading into the fourth.
The Golden Bears and the Bulldogs went back-and-forth in the fourth quarter, as both defenses tightened up in the final frame. The Bulldogs had trimmed CSP's lead to down to one at 45-44 before Lexi Lee hit a three to give CSP a four-point lead with 2:09 left in the game. Lee made two free with the Golden Bears in the bonus before Minnesota Duluth answered with a Katie Stark three, making the score 50-47 with 52 seconds to play. Sidney Wentland hit a free throw to put the game out of reach with 6.9 seconds to play.
CSP is now 22-22 against Minnesota Duluth in the all-time series. Concordia has won 11 of the last 15 games in the series and has been victorious in the last seven matchups between the teams at the Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears will hit the road for their next pair of games. After their matchup with the Augustana next Saturday, the Golden Bears will travel to Nebraska to take on Wayne State (12-6, 7-5 NSIC) on Sunday, January 27th at 1:30.
