ST. PAUL, Minn. – On Saturday afternoon, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (9-11, 6-8 NSIC) faced the Wayne State Wildcats (14-6, 9-5 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center. With the game in their favor until the final four minutes, the Bears lost a heartbreaker as WSU surged to an 83-74 win.
 
The two teams went back and forth in the first half, neither leading by more than six points after five lead changes and seven ties. The Wildcats shot 46.4% (13-28) from the floor and held the Bears to 40% (14-35) shooting, but CSP dominated from the three to finish six of 11 (54.4%) while WSU could only drop one of eight (12.5%). Junior Danielle Schaub went 2 for 2 from three and led Concordia with 13 points in the first half.
 
The Bears ability to drain the three's kept them in the game and allowed the Wildcats just a one-point edge going into the second half. After an even scoring game (21-21) in the second quarter, the score sat at WSU 39 – CSP 38 at the half.
 
Schaub led the Golden Bears with a career-high of 24 points and went on to make two more three-pointers in the second half (4-10 3PT). Sophomore's Sydney Schultz and Meghan DuBois also ended in double digits. Schultz scored 14 points and now has scored 11+ points in the last five games while DuBois contributed 12 points along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Redshirt freshman Sydney Zgutowicz led the team in rebounds with a career high of 10 while also scoring six points and swiping three steals.
 
Kylie Hammer led the Wildcats with 22 points as the guard went 3 for 3 from the arc, 5 for 5 from the free-throw line, and 7 for 8 from the floor. Brittany Bongartz also had a huge game with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Concordia came into the third quarter on the right track and outscored Wayne State 22-16 with 8-13 (61.5%) shooting for a five-point lead going into the final ten minutes. The Bears developed a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter but couldn't slow down the Wildcat offense after they went on a 13-2 run. A three pointer by Halley Busse with four minutes and 35 seconds to go gave WSU a 68-66 lead.
 
After 20 three-point attempts by Wayne State, they made two of their four when it mattered and added to their run with a swish from Kylie Hammer for a 71-66 advantage. The Golden Bears fought hard and finished a set of layups and a three-pointer, but it was ultimately the free-throw shooting from the Wildcats in the last two minutes that kept them behind.
 
The Golden Bears were able to find gaps in the Wildcat defense and get up 66 shots while holding their opponent to 57. WSU was the more efficient team however and shot 43.9% from the floor and held CSP to 40.9%. Wayne State out-rebounded Concordia 40-35 but allowed the Bears 12 offensive boards of which they scored 16 points off of.
 
CSP will look to improve their record next weekend as they travel to Northern State and MSU-Moorhead (#3 Central Region) on Friday and Saturday. The Bears will take on the Wolves (11-9, 7-7 NSIC) in Aberdeen, S.D. at 5:30 p.m. on January 31^st followed by the Dragons (14-7, 9-5 NSIC) at 3:30 p.m. on February 1^st. A livestream of the games will be available at cspbears.com/watch.