MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (10-12, 7-9 NSIC) lost a tough battle this afternoon against Minnesota State University-Moorhead (16-7, 11-5 NSIC). With a final score of 66-67, the Bears held their own against the #3 team in the NSIC.
 
Concordia developed a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter after Sydney Schultz muscled her way through defense to drop a bucket down low. The Bears came back in the second half and were outscoring the Dragons 31-22 until Brooklyn Liegel hit a three from the corner with 6.5 seconds to go. With neither team in bonus, CSP fought for a shot opportunity to draw a shooting foul but ultimately got tangled up with the final buzzer in the process.
 
It was a steady battle from the beginning as CSP developed a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. The stats were almost even as both squads finished seven of their attempts from the floor. Danielle Schaub and Cassidy Byrd finished back-to-back three pointers to take a 10-9 lead, their first of the game.
 
In the second quarter, the Dragons went on a 13-3 run to start out and held the Bears to 31.3% (5-13) shooting from the floor. Peyton Boom for MSUM was a powerhouse down low and difficult for CSP to stop. The sophomore had 10 points by mid-second quarter and eventually scored 16 points along with six rebounds.
 
At the half, the Golden Bears had committed just two turnovers and were led by freshman Jadyn Hanson. The guard drained a big three late in the second to bring the score within seven at halftime. Hanson ended the night with 15 points on 54.5% (6-11) shooting while grabbing four rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal.
 
The Bears found their energy in the third quarter and held the Dragons to just 10 points from the floor. It stated with an assist from Meghan DuBois to Schaub in the deep corner for a three and the squad followed with a 7-2 run to bring the game within two points.
 
At 49-52 and ten minutes to go, CSP opened the quarter with a crafty move from Sidney Wentland in the paint for two. Following a three-pointer from MSUM, Schaub responded with back-to-back buckets from the arc to tie it up 57-57. Schaub hit a total of five threes against the Dragons on 71.4% (5-7) 3-pt shooting and ended the night with 15 points while on the court for all 40 minutes.
 
After back-to-back buckets on each end, Schultz had a strong finish from the post to tie it at 64-64. The Dragon's committed an uncontested error when they failed to get the ball in play and turned it back over to the Bears. Schultz put in another from the post for the late one-point lead but MSUM would drop a three at their end for the win.
 
Concordia concluded the game with 41.7% (25-60) from the floor and held Moorhead to 39.7% (25-63). The Bears also won the three-point battle, going 8-for-17 (47.1%) while the Dragon hit 6 of 20 (30%). The Dragons were stronger on the boards, outrebounding the Golden Bears 40-36 and picking up 14 offensive rebounds to CSP's nine. CSP won the turnover battle 7-8 and each team scored seven points off turnovers.
 
Schultz scored 12 points along with 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior Sidney Wentland was active all over with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
 
The leader for Moorhead was Megan Hintz who's 55.6% field goal percentage put up 23 points. The senior forward also collected 11 rebounds, four of which were on the offensive end. Another solid performer was Sarah Jacobson who scored 10 points along with five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
 
The Golden Bears will return home next weekend for Bemidji State on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Games will be played at the Gangelhoff Center on February 7^th and 8^th with a live stream available at cspbears.com/watch.