ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul (9-8, 6-5 NSIC) junior guard Riley Wheatcraft scored 24 points to lead the Golden Bears in an 82-72 road loss at St. Cloud State (11-4, 8-3 NSIC) on Friday night at Halenbeck Hall.
 
Wheatcraft knocked down 9-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range and filled the stat sheet in other ways, adding five assists, four rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot. She converted buckets at big spots throughout, trimming double-digit SCSU leads in the second half to single digits multiple times, last converting in the lane in traffic to make it a six point game, 76-70 with just over four minutes to go.
 
Fouled and injured on the play, Wheatcraft left the contest and didn't return and the Huskies seized on the red-hot junior's absence, blanking the Golden Bears nearly the rest of the way and pushing the lead back to double-digits before sophomore guard Meghan DuBois picked up a steal and scored late to end the fourth quarter drought, finishing with seven points.
 
St. Cloud State was led by 24 points from Tori Wortz and 22 points from Madelin Dammann on 7-9 shooting. The duo were part of an SCSU starting five that accounted for all 82 Husky points as Concordia's bench had a 25-0 edge on the night.
 
Concordia ended the first half similar to how it ended the game, on an extended drought. After a three-pointer by junior Sidney Wentland gave Concordia its third lead of the night, 25-24 with 6:26 to play in the second quarter, the Huskies clamped down defensively. Wentland scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the game, adding four steals and three assists.
 
SCSU held CSP to 2-8 shooting (0-3 3FG) and forced five turnovers the rest of the quarter as part of a 14-4 run to enter halftime leading 38-29 over Concordia.
 
The Golden Bears wouldn't come within six points the rest of the night, and only got it down to six with the fourth quarter Wheatcraft bucket.
 
CSP opened the game with strong three-point shooting, converting its first three field goals from long range including a pair by Wheatcraft while it was DuBois who opened the scoring with a three-pointer in the opening minute for CSP's first lead, 3-2.
 
The Golden Bears would take their second lead of the night 18-17 on a layup by freshman Jadyn Hanson late in the first quarter. She scored five of her seven points in the first half.
 
Concordia had five of its nine made field goals in the first half from behind the arc including 4-of-6 three-point shooting in the first quarter as CSP trailed 19-18 after the first 10 minutes.
 
By halftime, the Huskies built their early lead based on a strong shooting advantage, knocking down 55.2 percent (16-29) from the floor while holding CSP to 34.6 percent (9-26) shooting. The Golden Bears stayed within reach based on 6-of-7 free throw shooting and making 5-of-11 from three while SCSU made just three shots from the arc (3-5) and the stripe (3-4).
 
In the third quarter, CSP's offense rekindled its momentum with 23 points, but was unable to whittle the lead closer than seven points with SCSU leading by as many as 14 as the Huskies also had a big offensive quarter with 27 points to keep the advantage.
 
Wheatcraft shot CSP back into the game early in the fourth, trimming SCSU's 14-point lead (66-52) early in the quarter to just seven, scoring five points as part of a 7-0 run including her fourth three-pointer of the night to cut it to 66-59 with 8:15 to go.
 
In the final tally, SCSU shot 56.6 percent (30-53) from the floor and ended up outscoring CSP 17-16 at the foul line on 20 attempts compared to Concordia's 22 attempts. Sophomore Sydney Schultz was outstanding at the stripe, making all eight of her free throws and scoring 12 points on just 2-of-4 field goal shooting in 21 minutes, adding five rebounds off the bench.
 
Concordia, shooting 44.4 percent (24-54) on the road, matched its season average of eight three-pointers made but needed double the attempts (20) as SCSU (10), who converted five from deep.
 
The shooting disparity also led to SCSU winning the glass by a +10 margin, 33-23 and had six blocks compared to two for Concordia.
 
Concordia's defense was able to forced 20 Husky turnovers on the night, but was unable to capitalize on the +4 turnover margin with SCSU actually outscoring Concordia 20-17 in points off turnovers.
 
The Golden Bears look to bounce back with a Saturday afternoon contest at Minnesota Duluth with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled tip at Romano Gymnasium.