ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (10-4, 8-4 NSIC) will head to Mankato, Minn. this weekend to take on the Minnesota State Mavericks (8-5, 7-4 NSIC) in their last regular season games of the year.

ATTENDANCE POLICY
Please note that Minnesota State is currently not allowing attendance for any visiting fans.

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 took on the Winona State Warriors in a pair of conference games at the Gangelhoff Center. The Bears split the series, winning the first game 70-55 and dropping the second game 68-67.

In Friday's game, the Bears let it fly from beyond the arc in the first frame, making four triples on 10 attempts and carrying a 20-10 advantage into the second.

The Warriors fought back in the second quarter, outscoring CSP 15-13 to cut the deficit to eight at the half. Junior guard Meghan DuBois was the leading scorer for the Bears in the first half with nine points.

The Bears took control again in the third, outscoring the Warriors 16-12 to push the lead back to double digits. CSP shot 6-13 from the floor in the quarter, including 3-4 from beyond the arc.
CSP carried the momentum into the fourth, shooting 10-17 (58.8%) from the floor and edging out the Warriors 21-18 to close out the fifteen-point victory.

DuBois was the leading scorer for CSP, recording 17 points on 6-14 shooting. Senior guard Riley Wheatcraft had another solid night, scoring 14 points on 5-10 shooting and adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Senior forward Sidney Wentland was the only other Golden Bear to finish in double figures, putting up 10 points and five assists.

In game two, both teams struggled to find the basket early in the first as each squad started the game just 1-6 from the floor. The score midway through the quarter reflected the early shooting woes with CSP holding a narrow 3-2 lead. Junior guard Sydney Schultz got the Bears rolling with three straight baskets to maintain the CSP advantage. Junior guard Meghan DuBois hit a late three to close out the quarter with the Bears leading 12-6.

The Bears shot much better in the second quarter, connecting on 7-14 from the floor and 4-8 from beyond the arc. Concordia ended the half on a 13-6 run to take a commanding 38-22 lead into halftime.

The Bears shot 50% from the floor again in the third, hitting on five of their ten shots from the floor. CSP outscored the Warriors again in the third by a margin of 21-18. At the end of three, Concordia held a 59-40 advantage.

The Warriors fought back in a major way in the fourth, going on a 25-6 run to tie the game up at 65 with under a minute left. Taylor Hustad went to the line for Winona State with just over 30 seconds remaining, making one of two the give the Warriors their first lead of the game. Freshman guard Sarah Kuma hit a huge jump shot just a few seconds later to give CSP a one-point lead with 23.6 on the clock. Coming out of a timeout with the shot clock turned off, the Warriors held the ball for the last shot. Warriors center Emma Fee threw up a shot with less than a second left, and heartbreak ensued for the Bears. The ball rattled around the rim, finally falling into the basket just as the buzzer sounded to complete the WSU comeback.

The Bears shot 20-46 in the game (43.5%) while the Warriors connected on 20-54 (37.0%). CSP outrebounded WSU by a margin of 39-26. Turnovers were a problem all game for Concordia as they committed 26 of them to the Warriors' 13.

Wheatcraft was the scoring leader for the Bears, putting up 17 points on 5-13 shooting. Schultz was also a key contributor, adding 14 points on 5-7 shooting from the bench. Senior forward Sidney Wentland also added nine points on Senior Day.

MSU SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have a 21-20 all-time record against the Mavericks. The Bears' record in road games against MSU is 9-9. The series has been relatively even in recent years, with each team winning five of the last ten matchups. CSP went 1-1 against the Mavericks last season, winning the first game and losing the second.

LAST TIME AGAINST MINNESOTA STATE
When the two teams last met on December 21, 2019, the Mavericks came away with an 84-79 victory over the Bears.

Minnesota State had the lead for majority of the first quarter until the final six seconds when Meghan DuBois drove the lane for a layup to lead 23-21 going into the second. The Bears picked up the offensive pace after that with a 17-8 run to get ahead of MSU by 15 points. With five minutes left before the half, the teams traded momentum and the Mavericks went on an 18-3 run to bring the game within four points. At the half, CSP was up 46-43 and sophomore Sydney Schultz led the team with 10 points and seven rebounds in her first 13 minutes of play.

The teams started the third quarter going back and forth on the court with multiple lead changes, but the Mavericks defense held the Golden Bears to a 26.7% field goal percentage. Sidney Wentland got to the line and finished a layup and a three to contribute seven early points after the half, but MSU outscored CSP 21-15 and had a three-point lead going into the final quarter of the game.
The Bears scored the first five points in the fourth with a three-pointer by Riley Wheatcraft followed by a layup from Schultz for their final lead of the game. The Mavericks took off and Concordia was down by eight with five minutes to go. Despite the Bears shooting 40% from the three-point line, Minnesota State was more efficient from the field (6-15) and scored eight points from the line compared to CSP's two free throws to give themselves the win.

The Mavericks committed 20 fouls against the Golden Bears to send them to the line for 25 scoring opportunities. Concordia went 84% (21-25) from the free-throw line for their best free-throw percentage since February of 2018 (85.7%, 12-14 vs Winona State). Individually, Meghan DuBois (4-4) and Cassidy Byrd (6-6) went 100% from the line.

Concordia had five players with more than 12 points. Leading for the Golden Bears was Sidney Wentland who finished the game with 17 points along with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Schultz ended with 14 points, shooting 54.5% (6-11) from the field and led the boards with 11 rebounds. Riley Wheatcraft faced tough defense from MSU following her 31-point game against the Mavs earlier this week but was also able to put up 14 points and grab five rebounds. DuBois recorded 13 points with three assists and Byrd had 12 with eight rebounds, two on the offensive end.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks enter the weekend at 7-4 in conference play 8-5 overall. Fresh off a sweep of the Upper Iowa Peacocks last weekend, Minnesota State is still very much alive in the hunt for an NSIC Tournament berth.

As it stands now, the Mavericks are in fourth place in the NSIC South and would be the final seed in the conference tournament. With Southwest Minnesota State hot on thier heels, MSU should have plenty of motivation to win in this weekend's series.

Minnesota State boasts the top scoring offense in the NSIC, averaging 77.5 points per game. The Mavericks also lead the conference in offensive rebounds per game (16.0), steals per game (13.5), and turnover margin (+9.0).

Rachel Shumski is the leading scorer for MSU, putting up 13.3 points per game. Tayla Stuttley is not far behind, averaging 13.2 points per game. Rounding out the Mavericks' scoring trio is Joey Batt with an average of 12.5 points per game.

KEY STATS
Heading into this weekend's matchup, the Golden Bears rank first in the NSIC in four different key statistical categories. CSP leads the conference in defensive field goal percentage (33.0%), three-point field goal percentage (37.4%), blocked shots per game (7.08), and assists per game (15.6). The Bears also rank second in the NSIC in field goal percentage (43.0%) and steals per game (9.5).

In the national rankings, the Bears rank second in the nation with 6.7 blocks per game. They also sit tenth in defensive field goal percentage (33.0%).

On the individual side, three Golden Bears rank in the conference top-ten in three different statistical categories. Lindsey Becher ranks second in the NSIC and sixth in the NCAA with 3.1 blocks per game.

Meghan DuBois sits fourth in the NSIC with 3.9 assists per game and ninth in the conference with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.5.
Sidney Wentland also currently ranks eighth in the NSIC with 1.1 blocks per game.