ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (10-12, 7-9 NSIC) returns home this weekend for a set of NSIC North matchups. The Golden Bears will take on Bemidji State University (7-13, 4-12 NSIC) on Friday, February 7^th at 5:30 p.m. followed by a game against the University of Minnesota-Crookston (4-16, 3-13 NSIC) on February 8^th at 3:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Bears split against Northern State (W, 62-54) and Minnesota State-Moorhead (L, 66-67) on the road.

The win against Northern State was a major team effort as eight of ten Golden Bears to hit the floor contributed to the scoreboard. Sophomore Sydney Schultz led the team with 12 points and seven rebounds on 62.5% (5-8) shooting as she dominated in the paint for CSP.

Concordia had the lead for the entirety of the game and shot 46.9% (23-49) from the field but struggled from the three to finished just 5 out of 18 (27.8%) of their attempts. The Wolves were held to 34.6% (18-52) shooting from the floor and 15% (3-20) from three. Their only three-pointers occurred in the first half of the game and NSU went 0-9 in the second half.

On Saturday afternoon against the Dragons, it was an even battlefield until the final minute. The Golden Bears developed a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter but MSUM's Brooklyn Liegel was able to drop a tricky three-pointer from the corner to gain a one-point lead with 6.5 seconds to go

Unable to find the open bucket before the final buzzer, CSP outshot Moorhead from the floor, concluding the night on 41.7% (25-60) shooting while holding MSUM to 39.7% (25-63). The Bears also won the three-point battle, going 8-for-17 (47.1%) while the Dragons hit 6 of 20 (30%).

Danielle Schaub hit a total of five threes on the night (5-7) to match her career-high and led the Bears with 15 points while on the court for all 40 minutes. Schultz had another productive night in the paint, collecting her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

BEMIDJI STATE HISTORY
Concordia has had success against the Beavers all-time, going 31-12 in their 43 matchups. The Golden Bears have won the last five of six games between the two programs and 28 of the last 31. Concordia is 19-9 playing Bemidji at home in regular season play.

LAST TIME AGAINST BSU
On February 27^th last year, the Golden Bears matched up against the Beavers for the first round of the NSIC Tournament. In an unexpected upset, BSU defeated CSP 73-70 at the Gangelhoff Center.

The Beavers had outstanding shooting from the three-point line, finishing 12 of 22 on a 54.5% shooting downtown. They were especially sharp in the second half, hitting 6-8 from long range and shot 8-12 from the field in the fourth quarter.

The Golden Bears got off to good start, holding the Beavers scoreless for the first 3:30 of the game and taking a 5-0 lead right off the bat. Bemidji State would inch back into the game near the end of the quarter, bringing the deficit to one at 11-10. The Golden Bears would answer back with a 9-0 run, capped by a Riley Wheatcraft left-handed layup. However, BSU would hit a corner three at the buzzer to make the score 20-13 going into the second quarter.

Last year's seniors were big scoring contributors, but Sidney Wentland was strong from the floor to score seven points while collecting six rebounds.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
The Beavers have struggled the last few weeks and are coming into Friday's matchup on a five-game losing streak. Bemidji ranks seventh in the NSIC in field goal percentage at 42.5% and eighth in three-point percentage at 32.8%. They struggle from the line, ranking 15^th for free throw shooting and averaging 68.3% on the season.

The squads scoring leader is Trinity Myer who averages 14.0 points per game (12^th NSIC) on 45.5% shooting from the floor (6^th NSIC). The sophomore guard is also the teams leading rebounder, averaging 5.4 a game and shares the ball well with 4.0 assists per game (4^th NSIC).

Taylor Bray is a strong forward for the Beavers, putting up 10.3 points each game and has nine blocks on the season. Rachael Heittola is a key player off the bench, scoring 9.9 points a game and grabbing 5.0 rebounds.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 24-9 all-time against the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston has won two of the last three games in the series and has also been victorious in five of the last eight. Concordia is 14-4 all-time against Crookston at the Gangelhoff Center.

LAST TIME AGAINST UMC
The Golden Bears and the Golden Eagles faced off a year ago when CSP closed the game with a 24-12 run to secure the 67-59 win. UMC was up 47-43 with 7:05 to go in the game but Concordia came out in the fourth quarter ready to shoot. The Bears shot 53.8% from the floor after shooting no higher than 31.6% in the previous three quarters.

The Golden Bears held a distinct advantage in two statistical categories. CSP shot their best free throw percentage of the year by going 16-17 from the stripe (94.1%) while UMC shot 68.2%. They also outscore the Golden Eagles in transition, scoring 12 points on the fast break.

The top scorers of the game were all 2019 seniors, but Sidney Wentland contributed five points and four rebounds in her 28 minutes of play. Meghan DuBois also put up five points as a freshman and dished out an assist in the win.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
UMC was stuck in an eight-game losing streak until defeating Minot and SMSU. After two wins, the Golden Eagles fell to the University of Sioux Falls this past weekend.

Crookston averages 61.1 points per game (15^th NSIC) and the team is shooting 37.5% from the floor (15^th NSIC). The squad struggles from downtown, shooting 27.8% from three this season.

Starters for the Golden Eagles vary, with nobody on the roster starting all 20 games. Abby Guidinger is a player to watch, averaging 10.0 points per game and 13 blocks this season (14^th NSIC). The strongest rebounder is Bren Fox with 6.4 a game (14^th NSIC) while scoring 8.0 points each contest. The most efficient shooter is Julia Peplinski at 47.9% from the floor and 7.1 points per game.

NSIC LEADERS
The Golden Bears continue to be one of the top three-point shooting teams in the conference, ranking third at 36.8%. They're the best shot blockers in the NSIC, averaging 4.41 blocked shot per game. They also rank sixth in scoring at 71.4 points and 10^th in field goal percentage at 41.6%.

Sidney Wentland continues to be the top scorer for CSP, averaging 12.9 points a game and ranking 16 in the NSIC. Her 1.3 blocked shots each game put her in 6^th place in the conference. Sydney Schultz entered the NSIC rankings for rebounding after her performances last weekend, averaging 5.4 rebounds a game to rank 24^th. She ranks 14^th on the offensive end, grabbing 1.9 o-boards a game.

Danielle Schaub is sixth in the conference for three-point shooting, having 49 on the season and 2.2 each game. She also has the teams highest assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.7 (4^th NSIC) and highest number of minutes played each game at 34.0 (3^rd NSIC).

In steals, Meghan DuBois grabs 2.0 a contest to rank third in the conference and distributes the ball well enough to rank number ten in the NSIC for assists per game (3.5).