MANKATO, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (6-6, 3-3 NSIC) lost their second game of the week against the Minnesota State Mavericks (7-3, 4-2 NSIC) 79-84 on Saturday afternoon at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota.
 
Minnesota State had the lead for majority of the first quarter until the final six seconds when Meghan DuBois drove the lane for a layup to lead 23-21 going into the second. The Bears picked up the offensive pace after that with a 17-8 run to get ahead of MSU by 15 points. With five minutes left before the half, the teams traded momentum and the Mavericks went on an 18-3 run to bring the game within four points. At the half, CSP was up 46-43 and sophomore Sydney Schultz led the team with 10 points and seven rebounds in her first 13 minutes of play.
 
The teams started the third quarter going back and forth on the court with multiple lead changes, but the Mavericks defense held the Golden Bears to a 26.7% field goal percentage. Sidney Wentland got to the line and finished a layup and a three to contribute seven early points after the half, but MSU outscored CSP 21-15 and had a three-point lead going into the final quarter of the game.
 
The Bears scored the first five points in the fourth with a three-pointer by Riley Wheatcraft followed by a layup from Schultz for their final lead of the game. The Mavericks took off and Concordia was down by eight with five minutes to go. Despite the Bears shooting 40% from the three-point line, Minnesota State was more efficient from the field (6-15) and scored eight points from the line compared to CSP's two free throws to give themselves the win.
 
The Mavericks committed 20 fouls against the Golden Bears to send them to the line for 25 scoring opportunities. Concordia went 84% (21-25) from the free-throw line for their best free-throw percentage since February of 2018 (85.7%, 12-14 vs Winona State). Individually, Meghan DuBois (4-4) and Cassidy Byrd (6-6) went 100% from the line.
 
Concordia had five players with more than 12 points. Leading for the Golden Bears was Sidney Wentland who finished the game with 17 points along with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Schultz ended with 14 points, shooting 54.5% (6-11) from the field and led the boards with 11 rebounds. Riley Wheatcraft faced tough defense from MSU following her 31-point game against the Mavs earlier this week but was also able to put up 14 points and grab five rebounds. DuBois recorded 13 points with three assists and Byrd had 12 with eight rebounds, two on the offensive end.
 
Minnesota State's points came from all over as 12 Mavericks contributed to the final score. The leading scorer was Maddie Olson with 14 points and three assists. Rachel Shumski recorded 11 points and Taylor Drost was right beind with ten, each of the forwards picking up four rebounds.
The women will return from the holiday break with a set of games at the Gangelhoff Center on January 3^rd and 4^th. The Golden Bears will face University of Mary (N.D) on Friday night (1/3) at 5:30 p.m. and end the weekend with a Saturday (1/4) afternoon game against Minot State at 3:30 p.m.