ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (15-13, 12-10 NSIC) defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks (3-25, 2-20 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon with a final score of 90-39 in their last regular season game. Their ability to hold UIU to 39 points marks the lowest score by an opponent since the 2013-24 season. The win gives CSP the fourth seed spot in the NSIC Tournament and the home-court advantage for the first round.
 
The Golden Bears held the Peacocks to 18 points in the first half of the game, keeping them to just 23.1% shooting from the floor (3-13) in the first quarter and 18.2% (2-11) in the second. While CSP had eight scoring contributors in the first half, UIU had just three players put points on the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes.
 
At the half, Concordia was shooting 13-of-24 from the field (54.2%) and were led by Danielle Schaub with eight points and four rebounds. As a team, the Golden Bears were able to score 15 of their 36 points off Peacock errors.
 
With their 18-point advantage at the start of the second half, the Golden Bears came out ready to attack the boards starting with an offensive board from Sydney Schultz where she provided the assist for Cassidy Byrd to drain the put-back off the glass for two. That momentum carried on up the court when Byrd collected back-to-back steals from the Peacocks.
 
The Bears were the most effective from the floor in the third quarter and made four of their six three-pointers. They shot 64.7% from the field (11-17) and were 4-for-8 from downtown. The Peacocks also had their best shooting performance of the game, going 35.7% (5-14) but were outscored by CSP 29-15.
 
Concordia continued to build upon their lead and use their defense to stifle the Peacocks offense in the fourth quarter. With the shooting opportunities the same on both ends, the Golden Bears dropped eight of their 16 from the floor while the Peacocks could get just three to fall. CSP went on a 25-6 run in the final ten minutes to glide towards their tenacious 51-point lead at the final buzzer.
 
It was an active night for Golden Bear assists, as they dished out 20 passes that led to CSP points while UIU contributed four on their side. Danielle Schaub was the top-scoring contributor with four assists and acted as the scoring leader along with Sydney Zgutowicz and Jadyn Hanson, all of which put up 14 points.
 
Schaub shot 50% from the floor (5-10) on 3-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and grabbed five rebounds. As a leading scorer for the Bears, Zugtowicz's 14 points were a career high for the red-shirt freshman while she shot 100% from the floor (4-4) and 55.5% from the free throw line (5-9). She also snagged five rebounds, three of which were on the offensive end, along with three assists and one steal.
 
Hanson was effective across the whole court, shooting 46.2% from the floor (6-13) and 66.7% from three (2-3). The freshman was in foul trouble early on but endured with smart defense and ended the night with 23:03 active minutes where she was able to collect three rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
 
Junior Ayla Lemke was the top rebounder with seven boards and the second leading scorer with 12 points while she snatched four steals to match her career high. Cassidy Byrd celebrated senior night with 11 points along with three rebounds, a steal, and an assist.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears shot 56.1% from the floor (32-57) and 40% from three (8-20). The Peacocks struggled from the floor the entire night and ended on 24.1% shooting (13-54) which is the lowest Concordia has held a team since the 2014-15 season. Jessica Musgrave scored 17 UIU points as the scoring leader and was also the top rebounder with eight rebounds.
 
CSP outrebounded Upper Iowa 44-28 and scored 22 points from offensive boards. Concordia also won the turnover battle, committing 12 while forcing 19 from the Peacocks and scoring 30 points off UIU mistakes.
 
After their weekend sweep, CSP will host Northern State in the first round of the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday, February 26^th at 6:00 p.m. If CSP is victorious in that contest, they will move onto the Sanford Pentagon, where the remainder of the tournament will be held on March 1-3.