ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 NSIC) travels to Wayne, Neb. this weekend to take on the Wayne State Wildcats (1-1, 0-0 NSIC) for their first conference action of the season.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
Please visit the opposing team's athletics website for more information about spectator policy, as the Northern Sun spans 5 states in the Upper Midwest and includes various community sizes and institutional policies. NSIC Member Attendance Policies
 
WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
Powered by the NSIC Network, all Northern Sun home and away basketball games will be broadcast online, free of charge. Visit www.nsicnetwork.com/cspbears to watch the Golden Bears. Away games will feature production and commentary by the host institution, while home games are broadcast by Keemotion technology with the play-by-play call of Dan Flanagan, voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. Flanagan is a St. Paul native who professionally trained in broadcasting at Fordham University in New York where he was the voice of the basketball and football teams, among other sports. NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV
The NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology, is available to download on your favorite OTT providers like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Simply search for "NSIC" or "NSIC Network" and download the app for a full listing of Northern Sun action on your TV.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
WATCH ON THE GO
Download the NSIC Network app in the Google Play Store or the App Store on your Apple device to watch on your smartphone, a new feature from BlueFrame Technology.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Not able to watch or keep an eye on live stats? Check in on social media by following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. Each platform will have different levels of engagement. Twitter will offer scoring updates, Instagram will feature live look-ins and engaging content and Facebook is a great place to get links to previews, recaps and more. Simply search for CSP Bears on any of the platforms and remember to #BeGolden!

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Golden Bears hosted Minnesota Crookston for a pair of non-conference games to tip off the season. Concordia collected a sweep on the weekend, winning by 63 points on Saturday and just one point on Sunday.

In the first game, the Golden Bears dominated both ends of the court for all four quarters. The CSP defense held Crookston to shooting just 22.4% from the floor while the offense shot 60.0% in the 95-32 victory.

CSP got contributions from all over the roster on Saturday with 12 different players recording points and four reaching double figures.

Leading the Bears was junior guard Meghan DuBois with a game high 14 points to go along with 10 assists and eight rebounds. Senior guard Danielle Schaub was also a key contributor with 11 points and two assists in the game.

Both of CSP's freshmen shined as each of them reached double figures in their first collegiate game. Forward Lindsey Becher put on an impressive show as she shot over 85% from the field and recorded 12 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in her collegiate debut. Freshman guard Sarah Kuma also gave the Bears strong contributions as she put up 10 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

Sunday's contest was much tighter, but the Golden Bears still found a way to escape with a close 54-53 win.

CSP's defense remained dominant as they held Crookston to just 26.6% shooting from the floor. The offense struggled at times, but ultimately did just enough to get the win. The Bears shot 41.5% from the floor in the win.

Becher finished on top of the score sheet in game two with her 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven blocks. Senior guard Riley Wheatcraft was the only other CSP player to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points, three rebounds, and four steals.

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have a 22-23 all-time record against the Wildcats. The Bears' record in road games against Wayne State is 8-12. Wayne State holds the advantage in recent years as they have won six of the last 10 against the Bears. The teams went 1-1 in their meetings last year with CSP winning the most recent contest 81-80.

LAST TIME AGAINST WSC
When the teams last met on Feb. 20 last year at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Neb., the Bears came away with a tight 81-80 victory.

It was an exciting game until the final second as the Bears had the lead for over 64% of the game and Wayne State took a one-point lead with 13 seconds to go. In the middle of a Wildcat transition, Danielle Schaub defended WSC's Halley Busse and snagged the ball before she crossed half court to turn around and finish the game winning layup. Up 81-80 with six seconds to go, CSP took advantage of their non-shooting fouls to keep their well-earned lead until the final buzzer.

Riley Wheatcraft and Sidney Wentland were the Golden Bears scoring duo, as the juniors each put up 20 points for CSP. Wheatcraft also led with seven rebounds on 41.2% shooting from the floor (7-17), while contributing four assists and a block. Wentland collected five rebounds on 53.8% shooting from the floor (7-13) and had a block and a steal.

Danielle Schaub was the second leading scorer with 12 points. Sydney Zgutowicz put up eight while dishing out five assists to her teammates along with five rebounds and a steal.

The scoring leader for the Wildcats was Erin Norling with 22 points as she hit of 10 of 16 shots (62.5%) and put up three blocks. Halley Busse was also strong with 20 points as well as nine assists. Brittany Bongartz was dominant in the post, grabbing a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
The one to watch on the Wayne State roster is defending NSIC player of the week Erin Norling. The senior forward is averaging a NSIC-best 21.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game through the first two games of the season. Norling recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday against Northern State. She one-upped her game one performance on Sunday when she put up 28 points in WSC's win over NSU.

Brittany Bongartz is the second leading scorer for Northern State with 14.0 points per game (17th NSIC) and 7.0 rebounds per game (12th NSIC). As a 6-0 center, she's shooting 50.0% from the floor (7th NSIC) and 70.0% from the free throw line (21st NSIC).

The Wildcats split their first two games of the season with Northern State last weekend, dropping the first 77-53 and winning the second 81-73.

The squad is shooting 37.1% from the floor (11th NSIC) and 24.6% from beyond the arc (8th NSIC) while holding their opponents to 43.1% from the floor (9th NSIC).

KEY STATS
Through the first two games of the season, the Golden Bears rank first in the NSIC in eight different statistical categories. CSP leads the conference in scoring defense (42.5 ppg), scoring margin (+32.0), field goal percentage (51.3%), opponent field goal percentage (24.6%), 3-point percentage (44.8%), rebounding offense (45.0), blocked shots (19), and assists (37). The Bears also rank second in the NSIC in scoring offense (74.5 ppg), opponent 3-point percentage (17.9%), defensive rebounds (74), and steals (27).
 
On the individual side, six Golden Bears rank in the top 10 in different statistical categories. Lindsey Becher ranks first in the NSIC with 10 blocks and second in the NSIC in field goal percentage (64.7%) while Meghan DuBois leads the conference in assists with 6.5 per game and ranks fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.9).
 
Sarah Kuma sits fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.0) and ninth in assists with 3.0 per game. Sydney Zgutowicz ranks tenth in rebounding with 7.0 per game. Riley Wheatcraft ranks third in steals with 3.0 per game while Sidney Wentland ranks fourth with 2.5 per game.