MARSHALL, Minn. – The Concordia University-St. Paul women's basketball team (9-5, 6-3 NSIC) competed against Southwest Minnesota State (6-7, 1-7 NSIC) on Friday night and fought their way to a victory with a final score of 68-51. The Bears now have a 42-16 all-time series record with the Mustangs and have won the last 17 matchups.
The Golden Bears started the game with sharp shooting from the three-point line as Riley Wheatcraft put the first points on the scoreboard with a banked shot from the arc. The junior went on to finish another to contribute to 80% (4-5) shooting from the three-point line in the first quarter for the Golden Bears.
Both teams struggled a bit from the field, the Bears going 6-15 and the Mustangs going 3-15, but CSP had the 17-7 lead after the first ten minutes of the game. The Golden Bears did a phenomenal job at sharing the ball, as all shots were assisted.
Southwest Minnesota State came out in the second quarter with a vengeance on defense. The Mustangs forced five turnovers from the Bears off steals and outscored CSP 21-15. With two minutes left to go before the half ended, SMSU returned from a ten-point deficit to tie up the game at 25-25.
After a series of wild shots on both ends, senior Cassidy Byrd broke the tie with a three-pointer. The Golden Bears were able to take back a four-point lead after a set of free-throws from Wheatcraft and a layup from Meghan DuBois in the final minute. The score sat at 32-28 at the half.
With not a lot of traction by either team in the third quarter, SMSU took their first lead of the game after a jumper by Abuk Akoi in the sixth minute. The Mustangs continued and lead 44-42 going into the fourth quarter.
Byrd got it going again for the Golden Bears, hitting a three off the bat. CSP let that momentum carry them as DuBois was fed the fast break lay up three consecutive times for the Bears to go on a 9-0 run. Appearing again almost as fast as it left, Concordia gained back their lead and was up by 15 with two minutes to go of the game.
At the final buzzer, CSP ended on a 17-2 run and outscored the Mustangs 26-7 in the fourth quarter to earn the victory over SMSU.
CSP had 13 steals against SMSU, their highest of the season, and scored 19 points off of Mustang turnovers. From the field, the Bears shot 40.3% (25-62) and held the Mustangs to 35.1% (20-57) shooting. Concordia was also strong from the three-point line, shooting 50% (8-16) while SMSU shot 27.2% (3-11).
Wheatcraft was the scoring leader for the Bears with 20 points along with six rebounds, four steals, two assists, and a block. DuBois went 46.2% from the field and ended as the second leading scorer with 13 points and five assists.
Redshirt freshman Sydney Zgutowicz had a career-best night on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds, including three on offense. Zgutowicz was the top rebounder for the Bears and also put up two blocks and two points in the win.
For the Mustangs, Meleah Reinhart led with 17 points and shot 38.9% (7-18) from the field. Teammate Jenna Borchers was also a dominate player for SMSU with 14 points and 66.7% shooting from the three-point line. Abuk Aoki was the leader on the boards with seven rebounds while also contributing eight points.
Concordia will travel to Sioux Falls for a game against the Cougars tomorrow, January 11th, at 3:30 p.m. Tune into www.cspbears.com/watch to watch the women's basketball team fight for a sweep on the road.
