WAYNE, Neb. - Concordia-St. Paul (6-2, 2-2 NSIC) wasn't able to hang onto a late lead, falling 75-70 at Wayne State (6-2, 3-1 NSIC) on Friday night at Rice Auditorium.
Concordia remains on the road for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Saturday night at Augustana (3-4, 0-4 NSIC) at the Sanford Pentagon. The Vikings are coming off a 91-86 overtime loss at home to Minnesota State tonight.
The Golden Bears used a pair of second quarter 7-0 scoring runs, one of which kept host Wayne State scoreless for nearly four minutes of play to build an 8-point lead, 36-28, tied for the largest lead of the night.
But it was a game that didn't allow for separation as Wayne State scored the final six points of the half to bring it within a two point margin at the break.
In the second half, CSP sophomore guard
Jadyn Hanson caught fire, scoring nine points in the third as CSP kept the upper hand in a tight game, holding a 54-51 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was Hanson again in the fourth who was the spark, scoring a driving layup with
Lindsey Becher coming up with a block on the other end on defense to allow a three-pointer by Hanson to score five in a row on her own to open a 7-0 scoring run and CSP's second 8-point lead of the game, 61-53 with 7:11 left to play.
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Hanson scored a career-high 19 points, making 7-14 from the field and 3-6 from three-point range, adding three assists. She scored 14 points in the second half for the Golden Bears.
Becher's four block performance gives her 26 in eight games on the year, adding 12 points.
While Concordia was able to mount a pair of 8-point leads and led for 60 percent of the contest compared to WSC leading for under 10 cumulative minutes, the game was characterized by Wayne State staying close, putting itself in a position to be in the game at the end.
Overall, the night featured 13 ties and 11 lead changes, with 10 of the ties and six of the lead changes coming in the first half.
After CSP claimed its second 8-point lead of the game with just over seven minutes to go, the Wildcats began their claw back into the competition, answering with a three-point play. CSP continued to hold the upper hand as the fourth quarter slowing ticked away until a three-pointer by Abby Kopecky made it a 1-point game, 64-63 with 4:02 to go and was followed by a Kassidy Pingel layup for a 65-64 WSC lead 40 seconds later.
With Wayne State leading 66-65 and under three minutes to go, senior guard
Riley Wheatcraft converted a clutch three-pointer to put CSP back on top 68-65 with 2:43 to play.
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It would be Concordia's last made field goal, though, as the Golden Bears made 2-4 from the foul line the rest of the way while Lauren Zacharias knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:29 left to give WSC the lead for good, 70-69.
Trailing by one, Concordia wasn't able to convert down the stretch, missing three from the arc while the Wildcats secured a key offensive rebound and were clutch at the foul line. In the last 29 seconds, the Wildcats made 5-of-6 at the line and finished the night 24-of-28 at the stripe.
Zacharias was particularly lethal late in the game, scoring 12 points in the final six minutes to finish with a game-high 22 for Wayne State. Pingel added 18 points and nine rebounds while making all seven free throws and Kylie Hammer had 16 points and was 6-6 at the line.
After building the 8-point lead with just over seven minutes left, Wayne State outscored CSP 22-9 the rest of the way.
The Golden Bears, the top defensive team in the Northern Sun, allowed the Wildcats to shoot above 40 percent for the first time this year as WSC was 40.7 percent (22-54) from the floor while knocking down seven three-pointers against CSP, just the third time a team has hit seven in a game.
Joining Hanson and Becher in double-figures for CSP were Wheatcraft with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double including three three-pointers and junior point guard
Meghan DuBois with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sydney Zgutowicz added nine points, six rebounds and three assists as all five starters scored at least nine points.
Off the bench,
Sydney Schultz gave CSP a boost with seven points and four rebounds in 13 minutes, hitting 2-4 from the field and knocking down a three-pointer.
