ST. PAUL, Minn. - Looking to continue their strong start, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (6-1, 2-1 NSIC) heads on the road this Friday at Wayne State (5-2, 2-1 NSIC) and Saturday at Augustana (3-3, 0-3 NSIC) for a pair of 7:30 p.m. start times.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC men's and women's basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ

This week's games feature the call of Aaron Scheffler from the Wildcat Sports Network (The city KCTY 98.9 FM/1590 AM and waynedailynews.com) in Wayne, Nebraska on Friday and Jeff Fylling for KXRB 100.1 FM in Sioux Falls on Saturday.
 
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STRONG START FOR THE BEARS
Concordia is off to their best start through seven games since the 2009-10 team that won its first 10 games en route to a 26-6 overall finish and region tournament runner-up finish (Sweet Sixteen). The only loss on the 2021-22 resume included a double-digit second half lead before eventually falling 84-74 to Minnesota State at home in the NSIC opener on November 23. Since, Concordia has won its last four games, one at home, two on the road and one neutral site contest with a pair of NSIC wins.

LAST TIME OUT: CSP SCORES PAIR OF NSIC WINS
In a split home/home weekend, Concordia picked up an 83-42 home win over Winona State on Thursday by limiting the Warriors to 31.0 percent (18-58) shooting and 5.0 percent (1-20) three-point shooting before heading to Fayette, Iowa for a 70-61 win at Upper Iowa. In the Upper Iowa win, the Golden Bears used a 16-0 run in the first quarter to build a double-digit lead before allowing the Peacocks to tie the game at 51 late in the third quarter. The Golden Bears clamped down late, holding the Peacocks without a field goal in the last 2:41, using a 9-1 run to close out the game.

In the win over Winona State, Lindsey Becher led the Golden Bears with 18 points on 9-14 shooting with seven rebounds (five offensive) and five steals while Riley Wheatcraft scored 16 points on 6-11 shooting including 4-6 from the arc. Meghan DuBois had another strong all-around game from the point with 13 points, seven assists, four steals and four rebounds and Megan Gamble scored 11 points with nine rebounds (five offensive) off the bench.

In the Upper Iowa victory, Becher led three players in double-figures with 14 points, adding six rebounds and four blocked shots. Wheatcraft once again hit double-figures with 13 points, getting to the foul line 10 times and collecting seven rebounds and three steals. Sydney Schultz poured in 10 points in 13 minutes off the bench, as well.

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 24, WAYNE STATE 23
The Golden Bears will meet for the 48th time since the 1999-00 season with Concordia holding the slight upper hand in the series 24-23 including three straight wins and going 5-2 in the last seven. CSP also holds a three game winning streak at Rice Auditorium where they are 10-12 all-time.

Head coach Amanda Johnson is 6-6 against the Wildcats dating back to January of 2016 and is 4-2 at WSC's Rice Auditorium.

LAST MEETING: 2021, CSP SWEEPS WSC
Last January, the Golden Bears made their first road trip of the season to Wayne, Nebraska and topped 90 points each game, winning 96-60 on Friday night before a 93-86 win on Saturday.

In the Friday win, Meghan DuBois set a new career-high with 24 points, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. She was 8-14 from the floor and 6-7 from the line, adding 2-4 three-point shooting all in just 20 minutes of action. Lindsey Becher added 16 points on 6-9 shooting and three blocked shots while Riley Wheatcraft scored 14 points in 17 minutes, connecting on 3-4 from three-point range and 5-8 from the field. CSP shot 53.2 percent (33-62) from the floor in the game and a blistering 78.6 percent (11-14) in a third quarter in which they put up 32 points (32-14).

Autumn Mlinar was WSC's only player to reach double-figures with 10 points on 4-6 shooting while the Golden Bears held the Wildcats to 33.9 percent (21-62) shooting for the game. The Golden Bears were 12-23 from the arc compared to WSC at 7-26, as well.

In the rematch on Saturday, the Wildcats started on an 11-0 run before Concordia countered with a 12-0 run to take its first lead. The Golden Bears added another 12-0 run to start the second quarter and led 49-40 in a high scoring first half. Things flipped again in the third quarter in a game of twists and turns as WSC shot 7-10 from the floor and 3-3 from the arc for a 28-18 third quarter margin to reclaim a 68-67 lead. The Golden Bears scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and didn't relinquish the lead from there.

Wheatcraft led CSP with 26 points on 9-13 shooting while Becher had her breakout game with 25 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Concordia shot similarly to the night before at 51.6 percent (32-62) while limiting WSC to 39.7 percent. Erin Norling led WSC with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State finished the truncated 2020-21 season 6-10 overall and finished seventh in the NSIC South Division with a 5-9 league record. Coming into 2021-22, Wayne State was picked seventh in the NSIC South Division and 13th overall in the 16-team Northern Sun. They're off to a strong start, though, already within a win of last year's total before the New Year with a 5-2 overall start and 2-1 league record. In the non-conference, WSC scored Division II in-region wins at Newman and at home against Chadron State, Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. They won their first two Northern Sun games, a 12-point win at home over Augustana and an overtime win over Southwest Minnesota State before falling by one 76-75 on the road on Saturday at Sioux Falls.

The Wildcats most compelling team statistic on the year has been their three-point offense and defense, hitting 34.7 percent (50-144) from the arc (4th, NSIC) while holding opponents to 23.6 percent (35-148) three-point shooting, third-best in the NSIC. Their 7.1 three-pointers made per game also ranks fifth in the league. While they are 15th in the league in most turnovers with 18.3 per game, they are also fourth in the league with 20.5 turnovers created, ranking sixth in the league with a +1.14 turnover margin.

Reigning NSIC South Player of the Week Kyle Hammer leads the Wildcats with 20.0 points per game, leading the South Division and ranking second in the league overall. She shoots 41.9 percent (39-93) from the field but hits 1.6 three-pointers per game and gets to the foul line often where she is a 79.7 percent free throw shooter (51-64). The Wildcats also feature the league's ninth-ranked rebounder, Kassidy Pingel with 6.9 per game, adding 9.3 points per game.  Lauren Zacharias also averages in double-figures with 11.4 points per game and hits at 46.2 percent (12-26) from the arc.

SERIES HISTORY: AUGUSTANA 19, CSP 14
The Golden Bears and Vikings will tangle for the 34th time on Saturday with Augustana holding a 19-14 lead in the series including an 11-3 record at home against Concordia. The teams split last year's series in St. Paul, although Augustana has won three of the last four and the teams have split the last six contests. Concordia is 1-5 in the last six trips to Sioux Falls but have split their last two road games with the Vikings.

In head coach Amanda Johnson's career, Concordia is 4-7 overall and 1-3 on the road.

LAST MEETING, 2021: CSP & AUGUSTANA SPLIT IN ST. PAUL
In last year's shortened season, Concordia scored a 74-60 home win on Friday before an 80-70 loss on Saturday. Friday's win improved the Golden Bears to 5-0 on the year while the loss on Saturday was their first of the season. After a slow start on Friday, the Golden Bears closed out the first half on a 14-0 run and added the first bucket of the third quarter for a 16-0 run and a 42-28 lead. A strong fourth quarter defensive effort saw CSP hold Augie to 11 points on 4-15 shooting as the Golden Bears finished the game on a 7-1 run for the win.

The Golden Bears committed just eight turnovers and forced 17 in the victory and held Augustana to 31.7 percent shooting on the night. Meghan DuBois had 13 points and nine rebounds and Riley Wheatcraft also scored 13 points while Lindsey Becher had 10 points and three blocks. Lauren Sees led the Vikings with 14 points.

On Saturday, the Vikings used an 8-0 run at the end of the first quarter to claim an early 18-10 lead before the Golden Bears clamped down defensively, holding Augustana to 22.2 percent shooting and eight points in the second quarter as CSP went into half trailing by three, 26-23. Concordia trailed by as many as 10 (43-33) with 3:36 left in the third quarter but whittled the margin to just two as Wheatcraft buried a three-pointer and the Golden Bears scored nine points at the foul line down the stretch in the quarter, trailing 47-45 entering the fourth. The Vikings scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to push it back to double figures and extended the lead to 12, 61-49 with 5:53 remaining. Concordia was able to cut it back down to five, 63-58 with 3:04 left on a Sarah Kuma layup fed by Jadyn Hanson but the Vikings pushed it back to double-figures over the next minute without letting CSP get a shot off and closed it out from there.

Wheatcraft led CSP with 19 points and nine rebounds while Kuma scored 10 points off the bench. Sees and Aislinn Duffy each scored 16 points to lead Augustana. Turnovers flipped from the previous night, as Concordia committed 17 and forced just nine.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Defending NSIC South Division Champions with a 10-3 league record and 12-5 overall finish, Augustana was picked atop the NSIC South Division Preseason Poll with three out of eight first place votes and 44 total points in a division where five different teams secured a first place vote. Overall, the Vikings were picked third in the 16-team league with a pair of first place votes. Despite winning all three non-conference games, none have been against Division II opposition, topping a pair of NAIA programs and a Division III squad. They are still searching for their first league win, too, falling by 12 at Wayne State (73-61), at home by 13 to Sioux Falls (73-60) and by 14 at Southwest Minnesota State (72-58).

On the year, the Vikings are just ninth in the league in field goal percentage (41.2) but are third in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 36.4 percent shooting, but they've been susceptible to the arc, ranking 15th in the NSIC in three-point defense as opponents are hitting 33.6 percent and knocking down over seven three's per game (44-131) while the Vikings counter with just 24.8 percent three-point shooting and hitting less than five per game (29-117). Opponents are also getting the stripe frequently, hitting 91-128 (71.1 pct) while Augie is lagging with 58-86 (67.4 pct). In ball control, the Vikings are third in the league with a +4 in the take/give, forcing the league's second most turnovers with 21.5 per game while committing 17.5 to rank 14th in most committed.

Lauren Sees leads the Vikings with 15.5 points per game while Vishe' Rabb adds 11.5 per game. Sees is hitting 2.2 three-pointers per game at a 38.2 percent clip (13-34). The Vikings have the league's best rebounder as Aislinn Duffy's 11.2 rebounds per game are over three more per game than the second place rebounder, adding 9.8 points. Jennifer Aadland adds 7.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kenzie Rensch has been dominating on the perimeter defense with a league-leading 5.6 steals per game, 2.5 ahead of second place.

BECHER FOURTH IN THE COUNTRY
Second year freshman post Lindsey Becher is averaging 3.14 blocks per game, leading the league and fourth in Division II basketball with 22 total blocked shots. The reigning NSIC South Freshman of the Year also ninth in the league hitting 47.4 percent from the field and 13th in the league with a 75.0 free throw percentage. She's averaging 12.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as well as over an assist and over a steal per game.

She has scored in double-figures in six consecutive games and scored at least eight points in every game, adding at least four rebounds in every game. She has multiple blocked shots in five games and a high of seven against Northern Michigan. She had season-highs of 18 points and five steals in last Thursday's in the win over Winona State.

In two years, Becher is averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds with 70 blocked shots in 24 games, adding 28 steals. Her 2020-21 debut freshman season average of 2.8 blocks per game was a school record, and she's ahead of pace to start her second freshman campaign in 2021-22.

DUBOIS TOP-15 NATIONALLY TWICE
Junior point guard Meghan DuBois has used her length and athleticism at the point guard position to create havoc on both ends of the floor, ranking 13th in the country with a league-leading 5.9 assists per game and ranking 15th in the country and third in the NSIC with 3.0 steals per game. She's third in the NSIC with 1.95 assist-turnover ratio, third in the league with 6.1 defensive rebounds per game, 15th in the league in free throw percentage (71.4) and 11th in the NSIC in three-pointers made per game (1.71).

She was the NSIC South Player of the Week to open the year, averaging 13.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.5 steals including an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double against Northern Michigan. She scored eight points, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals or more in every game this season. She has at least five assists and at least five rebounds in six of seven games on the year, apiece.

Now in her fourth year in the program, DuBois has compiled 545 points, 233 rebounds, 210 assists and 107 steals in 68 games. She has career-high averages in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals to start the 2021-22 season.

WHEATCRAFT PROVIDING THE OFFENSE
Two-time All-NSIC South First Team selection Riley Wheatcraft leads the Golden Bears and is 11th in the league with 14.6 points per game, with a pair of 20-plus point performances including a season-high 27 at Southeastern (Fla.) on November 26 which started a streak of four-straight in double-figures. She scored 16 and 13 points last weekend in wins over Winona State and at Upper Iowa and had three steals in each win.

Defensively, she's had at least three steals in a game four times this year while hitting four three-pointers in a game three times. She's collected three or more rebounds every game, as well.

She is the league's eighth-ranked shooter at 49.3 percent from the field, ranks seventh in three-pointers made (14) and percentage (35.9 pct) and is 10th with 2.0 steals per game.

Now in her fourth year with the Golden Bears, the Northern Iowa transfer has scored 780 points with 275 rebounds, 116 assists, 100 steals, 52 blocked shots and 122 three-pointers made at a 37.3 career percentage. She is off to a career-best start in scoring and rebounding.

ZGUTOWICZ ON THE GLASS
Sophomore forward Sydney Zgutowicz is the Northern Sun's third leading rebounder with 8.0 per game, also ranking third in the league with 3.1 offensive rebounds per game. One of three players to average over 30 minutes per game, she adds 7.9 points and is second on the team with 20 assists. She's had at least five rebounds in every game and had nine or more rebounds three times with a high of 13 in the win at Southeastern (Fla.) on November 26.

As fourth year player in the program who redshirted as a freshman in 2018-19, Zgutowicz has 266 points, 202 rebounds, 64 assists and 42 steals in 46 career games. She's putting up career-best numbers in scoring, rebounding, assists and minutes.

HANSON'S HOT START
Sophomore guard Jadyn Hanson was an early season catalyst in the Golden Bears' hot start, putting up back-to-back 15 point performances on 7-11 and 6-11 shooting. She also hit double-figures with 11 points in the win at Southeastern (Fla.) on November 26 and averaged 7.5 points in last weekend's NSIC wins against Winona State and at Upper Iowa.

She's fourth on the team with a career-best 9.6 scoring average and is averaging a career-high 28.3 minutes per game. In three seasons, she's put up 312 points, 121 rebounds, 59 assists and 36 steals in 53 games.

BENCH NOTES
Freshman Megan Gamble is coming off her best weekend, averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 7-13 from the field in wins over Winona State and Upper Iowa ... she had 11 points and nine rebounds against the Warriors in 16 minutes before a career-high 22 minutes for nine points on 3-5 shooting at Upper Iowa ... Gamble is averaging 5.5 points on 58.8 percent shooting in 12.3 minutes per game ... junior Sydney Schultz is averaging 6.1 points in 14.4 minutes on 51.7 percent shooting, collecting 3.7 rebounds per game ... Schultz has a pair of double-digit scoring games with 10 each against Minnesota State (11/23) and most recently at Upper Iowa (12/4) ... she averaged 9.5 points last weekend, shooting 60.0 percent (6-10) from the floor in wins over WSU & UIU ... Schultz has 389 career points and 214 rebounds on 57.7 percent shooting across 60 career games as a fourth year Golden Bear.

TEAM RANKINGS
The Golden Bears lead the league and rank 21st in the country with 44.6 rebounds per game and have the league's best rebound margin (+7.0) while pulling down 13.9 offensive rebounds per game, second-most in the NSIC ... Concordia's defense ranks 18th nationally in guarding the arc, limiting opposing shooters to 21.7 percent from three to lead the league and holds opponents to a league-best 33.9 percent shooting percentage, ranking 29th nationally while pulling down 30.7 defensive rebounds per game, 14th-most in Division II basketball ... Concordia's offense ranks second in the league with 74.0 points per game with a league-high 16.1 assists per game ... CSP holds opponents to 60.7 points per game to rank third in the NSIC and has the second-best scoring margin at +13.3.

Concordia has held opponents to under 40 percent shooting in all seven games and under 22 percent from the arc in all but two games ... opponents have not hit mroe than seven three-pointers in a game against Concordia on the season ... the Golden Bears have had a positive rebounding margin in all but one game on the year.