ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (4-4, 1-1 NSIC) will hit the road this weekend for a couple of NSIC games against Upper Iowa (0-8, 0-3 NSIC) and Winona State (7-0, 3-0 NSIC). CSP will face the Peacocks at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 13^th before matching up with the Warriors at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 14^th.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears opened their conference season last weekend, falling to Sioux Falls at home by a score of 62-57. A tough first half sunk the Golden Bears, as CSP trailed 35-24 at halftime. Despite a productive third quarter and outscoring the Cougars 17-14, CSP couldn't bounce back.
 
Concordia would come out the following day for a close game that resulted in overtime against Southwest Minnesota State. The Bears defeated the Mustangs for their first conference win with a score of 82-79.
 
Riley Wheatcraft scored a season-high 22 points in the game including a three pointer with 1.6 seconds to go that sent the squads into overtime. The junior also grabbed five rebounds and went .600 from the field (9-15) and the three-point line (3-5) for her best shooting percentage this season. Freshman Jadyn Hanson was also a powerhouse against the Mustangs with a career high of 18 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. She also ended the night with zero fouls despite forcing ten of SMSU's.  
 
UPPER IOWA SERIES HISTORY
Concordia has had a lot of success against the Peacocks, going 25-4 against Upper Iowa in their 29 matchups. The Golden Bears are on a four-game winning streak against UIU and have claimed six of the last seven games. Concordia is 12-2 when playing at Upper Iowa.
 
LAST MEETING WITH UIU
The last time the Golden Bears played Upper Iowa was in Fayette back on February 23^rd of this year. In their final regular season game of the 2018-19 season, CSP finished with an 88-65 victory over UIU to make them the NSIC South Division Champs for the first time since 2013. Then senior, Anna Schmitt, become Concordia-St. Paul's first-ever player to eclipse 2,000 points in the win.
 
Sidney Wentland and Meghan DuBois had a big game against the Peacocks, Wentland scoring 16 points with seven assists and four rebounds while DuBois contributed 10 points.
 
The Bears shot 55% from the field and 43.8% from three (7-16). Concordia also held a significant advantage on the boards, outrebounding Upper Iowa 40-23.
 
SCOUTING THE PEACOCKS
Upper Iowa is shooting 33.9% from the field, 24.2% from the arc, and 66.7% from the free-throw line. As a team, they average 35.4 rebounds per game and score 51.2 points but allow their opponents 42.4 RPG and 68.6 PPG. The Peacocks are still looking for their first win of the season as they are 0-8 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
 
UIU relies heavily on freshman guard Jessica Musgrave who is the top performer for the Peacocks this season. As the only player on the roster to average double digits with 15.0 points per game, the strong guard averages 26.8 minutes per game and is eight in the NSIC in scoring. Musgrave is shooting 47.1% from the field and picking up six rebounds each game.
 
Megan Peterson is the second leading scorer for UIU with 7.5 points per game. Erica Armstrong is a powerful rebounder off the bench grabbing 4.5 per game while she averages 2.8 points.
 
WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have a 32-19 record against Winona State in their series history. CSP has won three of the last four in the matchups, but the Warriors have been victorious in eight of the last 12. CSP is 12-7 when playing in Winona.
LAST MEETING WITH WSU
The Golden Bears last faced the Warriors on February 22^nd last season when they set the DII-era school record for field goal percentage. CSP shot 65.3% on the night as they went 32-49 from the field. Seven players shot over 50% in their 80-68 victory over WSU.
 
Meghan DuBois collected her career high as a freshman with 16 points and three assists. Sidney Wentland shot 5-9 from the floor and ended the night with 11 points, four assists, two rebounds, two blocks, and a steal for a handful of stats in CSP's favor.
 
In the second quarter, DuBois and Danielle Schaub made a big impact off the bench with a combined 15 points. They helped the Golden Bears take control of the game and opened and closed the quarter with a 12-3 run to take a dramatic 45-28 lead going in the break.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
The Warriors have five players on their roster averaging double digits each game. Leading in scoring is junior guard Allie Pickrain with 12.4 PPG as she shoots 40.7% from the field and 39.4% from three. Her three-point percentage is good enough for a third-place ranking in the NSIC, just behind freshman teammate Caitlin Riley who has the top 3-PT% in the conference at .463. Riley is third on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game.
 
The top rebounder for WSU is Taylor Hustad who grabs 8.1 rebounds a game and is also a double-digit scorer with 10.6 points per game. Hustad is sixth in the NSIC in rebounding and has a field goal percentage of .508 (31-61).
 
As a team, Winona State holds their opponents to 65.1 PPG while they score 77.7 with an efficient offence ranking them third in the conference for scoring. They also rank third in the free-throw shooting as they take advantage of shooting-fouls by going 74.1% from the line. The Warriors are top four on the offensive boards, grabbing 12.6 a game for second chances.
 
WSU has yet to lose a game this season with an overall record of 7-0.
 
KEY STATS
 
The season started with a three-game winning streak for the Golden Bears and now has slowed down to a back-and-forth outcome throughout the last six games. CSP will look to get back in a winning routine after their overtime win last weekend against Southwest Minnesota State. The squad is averaging 68.1 points each game as they go 40.3% from the field and 34.9% from the arc, which earns them fifth for 3-PT% in the NSIC.
 
The Bears defense in their first two conference games of the season was solid. CSP held SMSU to 35.7% from the field and Sioux Falls to 31.8% while they averaged a field-goal percentage of 39.3 on the weekend. With help from Sidney Wentland who averages 2.0 blocks a game and ranks second in the NSIC and 26^th in nation, Concordia is third as a team in blocks with 4.25 a game.
 
Wentland is also the leading scorer for the Bears, averaging 13.3 points per game and ranks 15^th in scoring for the conference. Meghan DuBois and Riley Wheatcraft are right behind her, each averaging 11.6 points per game. DuBois is fifth in the NSIC in both assists (3.5) and steals (2.0) per game