ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (9-2, 5-2 NSIC) made it three straight wins and seven wins in eight as they cruised to a 71-51 win over Sioux Falls (8-4, 4-3 NSIC) on Saturday night at Gangelhoff Center.
 
The Golden Bears combined some stellar shooting with some stifling defense as they connected on 44.9% (22-49) from the floor and 50.0% (7-14) from beyond the arc while holding the Cougars to just 31.0% (18-58) in the win. It was Concordia's third best shooting performance of the season while it matched their second lowest opponent field goal percentage on the year. CSP improved to 12-8 in the all-time series, including a 7-4 mark on their home court.
 
Meghan DuBois and Sydney Zgutowicz shared the team lead in scoring as both poured in 17 points in the win. DuBois hit 6-10 from the floor, including both attempts from beyond the arc, to go along with five assists, two steals and two rebounds while Zgutowicz was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line and 3-4 from deep in addition to pulling down four boards.
 
Lindsey Becher and Jadyn Hanson gave CSP four starters in double figures as both scored 11 points with Becher chipping in five rebounds and five assists while Hanson grabbed a pair of boards. Riley Wheatcraft and Megan Gamble led the way on the glass as Wheatcraft had seven rebounds and Gamble had six to go with two blocks.
 
Former Golden Bear Danielle Schaub paced the Cougars with 10 points on 3-6 shooting and 3-4 from the line in the loss.
 
It was a back-and-forth opening quarter with five ties and five lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points in the period.
 
The momentum shifted heavily in CSP's favor in the second quarter as they built on a late first quarter bucket from Hanson to rattle off an extended 20-5 over 8:26 to take a 32-19 lead at the 2:35 mark. During that run, CSP hit 6-8 from the floor and 3-3 from three-point range while holding USF to just 2-12 shooting. The Golden Bears added a point to that lead down the stretch as they took a 36-22 advantage into the break.
 
The Cougars trimmed it to a dozen with an early layup to start the second half, but CSP blew it open from there with an 8-0 run to balloon the lead to 20 at 44-24. Concordia kept their foot on the gas as they extended it to 24 at the 3:36 mark and maintained a 23 point edge at 53-30 before the Cougars closed the period on a 7-0 run.
 
The Golden Bears quickly put it out of reach in the fourth as they scored nine of the first 10 points to match their largest lead of the game at 24 with a 62-38 advantage with 7:01 to go. The lead would not shrink below 16 the rest of the night as CSP rolled their way to a 71-51 win.
 
Concordia will look to stay hot after the legislated break as they open up 2022 on the road at Minnesota State on Jan. 2.