ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (12-12, 9-9 NSIC) held a lead over Minnesota Crooktson (4-18, 3-15 NSIC) for the entirety of the game on Saturday afternoon to earn the 75-59 victory and walk away with a weekend sweep.
 
The Golden Bears used the strength from sophomore forward Sydney Schultz to drive them to their win over the Golden Eagles. Schultz had a stellar performance from the floor, scoring a career-high of 21 points to lead CSP while also being the efficiency leader on 75% shooting from the floor (9-12). The sophomore also collected five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in her first game to break 20.
 
Out of the first six points after the tip-off, Schultz put four on the scoreboard on back-to-back drives to the lane. Concordia developed their lead early on and were ahead of the Golden Eagles by five at the end of the first while holding their opponent to 38.5% from the field (5-13), which would be their best shooting until the fourth quarter.
 
The Golden Bears continued to outscore the Golden Eagles, despite UMC having more shot opportunities from all over the floor. Crookston went 5-of-16 in the second quarter while the Bears went 5-of-11 but had a disadvantage from the three-point line to go zero of six at the half.
 
Another key aspect to the Golden Bears early success in the game was freshman Jadyn Hanson. The guard contributed to the 35-23 lead after the second quarter with nine points, going 100% from the line (4-4) and the three (1-1) while drawing four Golden Eagle fouls. Hanson ended the night as the second leading scorer with 15 points in addition to her three rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block to be active across the whole court.
 
The Golden Bears had a distinct advantage in three-point shooting percentage, going 46.2% (6-13) while holding the Golden Eagles to 26.3% (5-19) from downtown. The third quarter was especially strong for the Bears from beyond the arc as the team shot 3-3 and UMC went 0-4. The initial quarter after the half was also CSP's most substantial performance from the floor. The squad shot 66.7% (10-15) in the field while UMC struggled to find their momentum and went 2-of-15 (15.4%).
 
In the fourth, the Golden Eagles finally found their touch from the arc, making five of nine after missing all ten of their attempts in the first three quarters of the game. UMC was able to outscore the Bears 23-10 in the final ten minutes with their sharp shooting from the three, but Concordia's 27-point lead at the start of the fourth was enough for them to remain with the lead.
 
The Golden Bears outrebounded Crookston 42-33 while four players on Concordia's roster collected five of their own. Along with Ayla Lemke's five rebounds, the junior scored seven points and added two steals and a block to her statistics. Riley Wheatcraft shot 66.7% (4-6) from the floor to score nine points and snagged three steals from the Golden Eagles. Sidney Wentland was also a big scoring contributor with five points and four assists. 
 
Minnesota Crookston had a versatile roster as 11 of their players put points on the scoreboard. The leader was Alyssa Peterson with nine points, two assists, and a steal. Julia Peplinski had eight points and led in rebounds with five.
 
The Golden Bears will return to the court next weekend for a set of road games on February 14^th and 15^th. Concordia will travel to Wayne State for a 5:30 p.m. game on Friday night followed by a game against Augustana on Saturday afternoon with a tip-off time of 3:30 p.m.