ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (12-12, 9-9 NSIC) is back on the road this weekend for a rematch against Wayne State (16-8, 11-7 NSIC) and Augustana (13-9, 9-9 NSIC) on February 14^th and 15^th. The Golden Bears will look to advance their record after a weekend sweep against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston last weekend.
 
LAST TIME OUT
This past weekend, Concordia extended their winning streak against the Beavers and the Golden Eagles while they hosted the pair of NSIC North opponents at the Gangelhoff Center.
 
With an early 14-0 run in the second quarter and efficient shooting from the floor, the Bears were able to secure an adequate lead before the half against BSU on Friday night. CSP shot 50% from the field while holding Bemidji to 39.6% and thrived from the stripe to go 80% from the free-throw line. Sharp shots and smart defense gave the Golden Bears the lead for all but 2:36 seconds of the game and they ended with a 75-61 victory over the Beavers.
 
Two Golden Bears led in scoring as Danielle Schaub and Riley Wheatcraft each put up 13 points. Schaub shot 60% (6-10) from the field for her sharpest shooting of the season and led the team with six rebounds. The junior guard also dished out four assists to lead the Golden Bears in scoring contributions. In Wheatcraft's post-injury debut, the junior shot 50% from the floor and from three, finishing three of the team's five shots from beyond the arc.
 
Sydney Zgutowicz and Ayla Lemke each scored 12 points to be the second-leading scorer duo. Zgutowicz stayed foul-free throughout the game while drawing six from BSU to go 6-of-6 from the line. She also shot 75% (3-4) from the floor. Lemke grabbed five rebounds and three assists to add to her buckets.
 
On Saturday against Minnesota Crookston, CSP held the lead for the whole game on 44.8% shooting from the floor and 46.2% from three. The Golden Eagles struggled against the Golden Bears defense and shot 33.9% from the field and 26.3% from three. With a final score of 72-59, the Bears made it a successful weekend at home.
 
Concordia was driven by sophomore forward/guard Sydney Schultz as she had the best game of her career, scoring 21 points and shooting 75% (9-12) on the court. Schultz was strong all over, adding five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in her first game to break 20.
 
Jadyn Hanson was the second leading scorer with 15 points as the freshman guard was active in a variety of statistical categories, grabbing three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in her 32 minutes of play.
 
WAYNE STATE HISTORY
Concordia is 21-23 all-time against the Wildcats. The Golden Bears have a 7-11 record playing Wayne State at their home court. Wayne State does have an 8-4 edge in the last 12 games in the series.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST WSU
The Golden Bears hosted the Wildcats on January 25^th at the Gangelhoff Center where they lost an 83-74 heartbreaker. Concordia had the game in their favor until the final four minutes when the Wildcats went on a 13-2 run to hold the lead at the final buzzer.
 
In the first half, there were five lead changes and seven ties between the two teams as neither could break a five-point lead. The Golden Bears ability to drain threes kept them in the game as they went 54.4% (6-11) from beyond the arc while WSU dropped just one of eight by halftime.
 
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 before they went on their 13-2 run.
 
Danielle Schaub was the scoring leader with 24 points and finished 4-of-10 shots from three. Sydney Schultz was CSP's second leader scorer with 14 points on 55.5% shooting from the floor along with five rebounds. Sophomore Meghan DuBois was the third Golden Bear to end in double digits, collecting 12 points on 100% shooting from all over the court as well as seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
 
The tough ones to stop on the Wayne State roster were Brittany Bongartz and Erin Norling who scored a combined total of 37 points. Bongartz led with 19 and 11 rebounds while Norling put up 18 points along with nine rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats (16-8, 11-7 NSIC) are ranked in the top-four for the conference in multiple statistical categories. As the second-best team in the NSIC South Division, WSU ranks second in scoring while they average 76.6 points per game and third in field goal percentage at 43.6% shooting. The squad is shooting 35% from three (4^th NSIC) and taking advantage of shooting fouls to go 78.2% from the stripe (2^nd NSIC). They are known for outrebounding their opponents and rank third in the conference for rebounds per game at 41.3.

Wayne State has the NSIC's second best scorer on their roster, as Erin Norling is averaging 19.6 points a game. Norling is also the team's top rebounder grabbing 8.0 a game (6^th NSIC) and the Wildcats highest ranked shooter at 45% shooting from the floor (7^th NSIC).
 
Halley Busse is averaging 14.4 points per game to act as the Wildcat's second leading scorer (10^th NSIC) and is a strong play contributor at 3.6 assists a game (7^th NSIC). The junior guard is also among the top-nine in free-throw shooting and threes, shooting 86.7% from the line (5^th NSIC) and averaging 2.1 shots from downtown a game (9^th NSIC).
 
The strong post to watch is Brittany Bongartz who averages 11.6 points a game with 6.8 rebounds (12^th NSIC). The six-foot junior puts up 1.3 blocks a game to rank sixth in the conference and is shooting 44.7% from the floor.

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 13-17 all-time against the Vikings. CSP is 3-10 when playing Augie at their home facility and has struggled against the Vikings in recent years. Concordia has lost seven of their last ten games against Augustana but won two games against them during the 2018-19 season.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST AUGIE
Back on January 24^th, the Golden Bears faced the Vikings at the Gangelhoff Center and fell to their opponent 86-73 despite developing an early lead.
 
After the first quarter, CSP was ahead by two. The Bears scored 18 points to go 47.1% (8-17) from the field while holding the Vikings to 43.8% shooting (7-16). A physical game brought both teams to the line early in the game, the Bears taking advantage by finishing 3-4 (75%) while the Vikings struggled and put in one of four.
 
Following the first half, Augustana stepped out of the locker room ready to play defense and the Golden Bears struggled to create shooting opportunities. The Vikings outscored CSP 25-13 in the third quarter and took the lead with three minutes to go, holding on to it until the final buzzer. The Augies played a zone defense in the second half and diminished the Bears of any three-point shot opportunities and were held to 2-of-6 shooting from the arc.
 
Danielle Schaub was on the court for all 40 minutes of the game to be Concordia's leading scorer with 21 points. She shot 56.3% from the floor (9-16) and 50% from three while contributing to the team in numerous other ways. The junior guard also provided three assists, three rebounds, and a steal.
 
Syndey Schultz put up 15 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double while Sidney Wentland contributed 12 points while snatching six rebounds.
 
For the Vikings, senior guard Hana Beyer provided a lot of energy, scoring 13 points and going 6-7 (85.7%) from the floor. Beyer got ahold of seven rebounds and contributed three assists. Hannah Mitby scored 12 points and led in assists with six. The junior also put up two blocks and one steal against the Bears.
 
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
The Vikings (13-9, 9-9 NSIC) are averaging 70 points a game (7^th NSIC) and rank lower in the conference for field goal shooting at 39.2%. Augustana also struggles from the three-point line, shooting 29.2% and ranking 14^th in the NSIC but are solid around the arc on the defensive end and hold their opponents to 28.9% from three to rank second in the conference.
 
Their leading scorer is Abby Hora with 12.2 points a game as she acts as the leading point guard for 31.5 minutes each contest. Hana Beyer is the top rebounder for the Vikings, grabbing 5.7 a game (20^th NSIC) and scoring 6.2 points a game. She leads the conference in steals with 2.0 a game, just one spot a head of Hora who also average 2.0 steals each game.
 
Hannah Mitby is the sharpest shooter for Augie, going 76.7% from the floor and averaging 8.8 points per game. As a team, the Vikings average 38.4 rebounds a game (5^th NSIC) and put up 3.09 blocks a game (6^th NSIC).
 
KEY STATS
The Golden Bears are the best team in the conference at blocking shots, averaging 4.38 per game and being led by Sidney Wentland who is ranked fourth with 1.4 and Riley Wheatcraft who ranks 9^th with 0.9 a game. Concordia is also still in the top-two for three-point percentage as they shoot 37.2% from beyond the arc.
 
Scoring 71.7 points per game, the Bears rank fifth in the NSIC and eighth in field goal percentage at 42.1%. They're also skillful at sharing the ball, dishing out 14.25 assists a game and ranking sixth in the conference.
 
The leading scorer for the squad is Wheatcraft with 13.7 points per game. The junior is shooting 38% from three to average 2.2 made threes a game (7^th NSIC). Danielle Schaub is right behind her averaging 2.1 made threes each game and averaging 11.9 points a game. Schaub has the team's highest assists/turnover ratio at 1.8 (4^th NSIC) and ranks second in the conference while she's on the court for 34.3 minutes each game.
 
In field goal shooting, the Golden Bear's most efficient shooter is Wentland as she is shooting 70.8% from the floor (17^th NSIC) and averages 12.5 points per game. Meghan DuBois is leading the team in assists with 3.4 per game (10^th NSIC) and ranks third in the conference for steals with 1.9 per game.