ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (7-6, 4-3 NSIC) returned to the court tonight after a two-week break with a defeat against the University of Mary (11-5, 5-2 NSIC) at the Gangelhoff Center. With a final score of 91-72, the Golden Bears now have a 13-7 all-time series record over the Marauders.
 
It was a record-breaking night for junior Sidney Wentland who scored a career best 34 points over UMary, shooting 73% (11-15) from the field and 100% from the three (4-4) and the free throw line (8-8). The forwards efficient performance ties her for third place in Concordia's division II era for single-game scoring. Wentland also grabbed six rebounds, three on each end of the court, and two assists.
 
The game began with the Golden Bears and the Marauders going back and forth on scoring for the first four minutes until UM went on a 7-0 run in the fifth minute to lead 15-9. CSP responded with a timeout and came back with a 10-2 run to lead by two points going into the second quarter.
 
There were no more lead changes following the first quarter, as Concordia forced 12 turnovers in the first half and held the Marauders to 12.5% (1-8) shooting from the three-point line. Wentland scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes of the game while red-shirt freshman, Sydney Zgutowicz, was close behind with nine points and three rebounds contributing to an eight-point lead going into the second half.
 
Wentland and junior Meghan Dubois were a strong forward-guard combo scoring a combined 49 points with Wentland's 34 and DuBois' 15. DuBois nearly grabbed a double-double as she dished out a career-best of nine assists and four steals. Junior guard Danielle Schaub was another key player for success with 12 points and seven rebounds, along with five assists and two steals.
 
The Golden Bears maintain a comfortable lead in the second half, with their largest advantage occurring with six seconds to go in the third when CSP was ahead by 21 points. Concordia went on a 12-2 run in the final two minutes of the third quarter, fueled by senior Cassidy Byrd who drained a set of threes near the end of the third.
 
UMary bounced back in the fourth by outscoring CSP 25-23, but the lead built earlier by the Bears kept them ahead to end the game on top. Concordia was 47.6% (30-63) from the field while the Marauders shot 43.9% (25-57).
 
CSP was the most productive they've been from beyond the arc all season, shooting 66.7% (10-15) from the three-point line. The productivity didn't stop there as the squad scored 21 (out of 23) of their points from the free-throw line for their highest FT% of the season at 91.3%.
 
Leading their team this season and against the Golden Bears was senior forward Cassie Askvig from UMary who scored 20 points and had five rebounds. The Marauders second leading scorer was junior guard Macy Williams who put up 12 points along with eight assists and five rebounds. CSP's defense held UM's three-point shooting to 31.6% (6-19) and forced 20 turnovers.
 
The Golden Bears snagged 36 rebounds to the Marauders 33 and scored 13 points off of second chances.
 
The victory improves Concordia's record to 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the conference. The Golden Bears will look to finish the weekend with a sweep as they revisit the court tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. for a face off against Minot State.
 
A livestream and live stats of the game will be available at www.cspbears.com/watch.