ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – After a major comeback in the second half, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team won their first regular season game of 2019-20 against Missouri Western State University 66-59 at the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic.
 
The game started with great momentum for the Golden Bears. Winning the jump, junior forward Sidney Wentland put up the first shot at the elbow, resulting in an offensive rebound by junior Ayla Lemke. Lemke provided the assist to sophomore guard, Meghan DuBois, and she answered with a drive to the basket to put the first two points on the scoreboard.
 
The teams went back and forth for the first half of the first quarter until MWSU went on a 7-0 run. CSP kept their composure and replied with a 9-0 run and forced the Griffons to take their first timeout of the game. The Golden Bears were down by two at the end of the first quarter.
 
Missouri Western hit the floor in the second quarter with strong defense and efficient offense, shooting 60% from the field and took advantage of CSP's five turnovers. The Bears were outscored 24-10 as MWSU drove the lane and didn't miss. At the half, the score was in favor of the Griffons as they entered the locker room with a 41-25 lead over the Golden Bears.
 
The tables turned in the third quarter when CSP stepped on the court with energetic offense, outscoring MWSU 24-7 after half time and earning their first lead of the game, 49-48. It only got better for the Bears in the fourth quarter when they dished out three consecutive fast break plays to go on another 9-0 run. Although Concordia only had the lead for 34% of the game, the squad played smart ball and managed to outrebound Missouri Western 39-36, force 18 turnovers, and end the game the way they started.
 
DuBois was a key player for the Bears, scoring a career high of 19 points and grabbing four rebounds, three assists, and two steals while shooting 53.8% against the Griffons.  Wentland shot 100% from the free throw line and put 15 points on the scoreboard for CSP, while teammate Riley Wheatcraft captured a career best of nine rebounds. The junior put up 14 points and had four steals at the end of the night. Lemke finished the game with 10 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.
 
The Golden Bears will be back on the court tomorrow, November 9^th, at 2:00 pm to face Fort Hayes State in the second game of the Hillyard Tip-Off Classic. Live stats for the game can be found here: https://gogriffons.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary