ST. PAUL, Minn. –  The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (2-0) secured a tight 54-53 victory over Minnesota Crookston (0-2) to complete the weekend sweep on Sunday at the Gangelhoff Center.

The offense was slow to get rolling for the Golden Bears after Crookston jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. Junior guard Meghan DuBois finally got CSP on the board with a layup on a Sydney Zgutowicz assist over two minutes into the game.

Turnovers were a problem for the Bears early in the game as they committed four of them in just the first four minutes.

The Golden Eagles defense controlled most of the first quarter, forcing eight turnovers and finishing with an 18-13 advantage.

The Bears struck first in the second quarter when senior guard Riley Wheatcraft laid it in to cut the deficit to three. The teams went back and forth on shots for the next few minutes, but a late 5-0 run by UMC gave the Golden Eagles a six-point advantage at the half.

Turnovers remained an issue for the Bears as they committed 11 in the second half and 23 throughout the game.

Coming out of the half, it was freshman forward Lindsey Becher who scored first to bring the Bears within four. Becher would go on to finish the game with a team-leading 13 points on 5-10 shooting.

The Bears remained within striking distance of the Golden Eagles late in the third, but still finished the quarter trailing by two.

Becher got the Bears rolling again in the fourth as she made an early layup to tie the game up at 39. Soon after, Crookston was able to take advantage of two fouls by the Golden Bears, sinking four straight free throws to take a 43-39 lead.

Things remained tight through the remainder of the quarter, but CSP was finally able to break through and take the lead on a Sarah Kuma free throw with just 1:12 remaining.
Crookston responded when Kylie Post drove the lane and laid it in to put the Golden Eagles on top once again.

Just five seconds later, freshman guard Sarah Kuma found Becher for what proved to be the game winning layup.

UMC had a chance to take the lead on a late layup attempt, but Becher came through clutch again for the Bears with her seventh block of the game to secure the win.

Wheatcraft finished the game with 12 points and four steals for CSP. Both Kuma and senior guard Danielle Schaub finished the game with six points and four rebounds.

The win was CSP's fourth straight against Minnesota Crookston, giving them a 27-9 advantage in the series overall.

The Golden Bears will head on the road to Wayne, Neb. next weekend to take on the Wayne State Wildcats on Jan. 8-9.