MARQUETTE, Mich. – In their second game on the road this weekend, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team fell just short against Northern Michigan at the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Michigan on Sunday afternoon with a final score of 65-60. The Golden Bears drop to 2-3 on the year and the Wildcats improve to 3-3 after CSP's 1-1 split on the road.
 
The Golden Bears now have a 5-4 record with the Wildcats, the last win happening a year ago when CSP hosted NMU at the Gangelhoff Center. In 2018, Concordia was the team to make a comeback in the second half to end on top with a final score of 63-61.
 
On Sunday, junior Sidney Wentland led the way for CSP with a season best of 18 points. Senior Cassidy Byrd was another huge performer for the Bears with the best performance of her career which included a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The forward also grabbed two steals for the Bears in the second half.
 
Wentland shot 58.3% from the field and contributed four rebounds and four assists. Byrd had a field goal percentage of 41.7% with 12 of her points being from three pointers.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears had 54 field goal attempts and shot 35.2% from the field. They had the best ball control of the season with 10 turnovers while scoring 23 points off the Wildcats 19 turnovers. CSP was out-rebounded by NMU 30-20 and allowed 14 points worth of second chances for the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats had a three-game losing streak until this past Friday when they hit a buzzer beater against St. Cloud State University. In the final three seconds, the team finished a jumper down low to end the game 55-53 over the Huskies. Much like their game against SCSU, the Wildcats showed up late in the fourth quarter with CSP when they took their first lead and didn't give it up.
 
Until late in the third quarter, the Golden Bears were leading on the scoreboard. They outscored the Wildcats 21-15 in the first quarter but the NMU squad was sharp from beyond the arc and outscored CSP by one in the second. They played tough defense in the third and only allowed 10 points for Concordia to their 20. In the fourth, CSP had more shot opportunities but couldn't make the shots fall against Northern Michigan's aggressive defense.
 
Strong on the Wildcat's side was Erin Honkala with 13 points and a lot of action defensively with six rebounds and four blocks. Her teammate Jessica Schultz was close behind with 11 points and five rebounds. As a team, NMU was 47.8% from the field.
 
The Golden Bears will get the week to prepare for their next game against the University of Jamestown (N.D.). They will host the NAIA opponent at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 30^th at the Gangelhoff Center. Come watch it live or follow it along on the live steam at cspbears.com/watch. Live tweets will also be available at @CSPBears.