FAYETTE, Iowa – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (8-3, 6-3 NSIC) defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks (1-10, 0-9 NSIC) 60–46 on Saturday evening behind 14 points from sophomore forward
Sydney Zgutowicz
Both teams struggled early in the first quarter until UIU guard Katie Tornstrom finally broke the 0-0 tie with a jump shot over two minutes into the game. Freshmen forward
Lindsey Becher got the Bears on the board with a layup around a minute later. The teams traded jabs for the rest of the first, but it was CSP closing out the quarter with a 12-9 lead over Upper Iowa.
The Bears took control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Peacocks 21-5 to take a commanding 33-14 lead into the half. Concordia held the Peacocks to just 2-12 shooting in the quarter while shooting 7-18 themselves.
The Golden Bears came out slow again in the third quarter as UIU opened the half on a 6-0 run spanning almost four minutes to cut the deficit to 13.
Sydney Zgutowicz got the ball rolling for CSP when she grabbed an errant Peacock pass and drained a jumper from the free throw line. The teams each scored 13 points in the third, though the Peacocks were more efficient with a field goal percentage of 33.3% compared to the Bears' percentage of 26.7%.
The Peacocks mounted a slight comeback in the fourth, outscoring the Bears 19-14 on 8-15 shooting (53.3%). However, the deficit proved too much to overcome as the Bears walked away with a 14-point victory to move to 8-3 on the season.
Neither team shot the ball great in the game as the Bears shot 22-68 (32.4%) while the Peacocks shot 18-50 (36.0%). The Golden Bears won the battle in the paint, outscoring the Peacocks 32-20. UIU struggled to keep possession for much of the contest, committing 26 turnovers. Upper Iowa outrebounded the Bears 43-37 in the game.
Zgutowicz was the scoring leader for the Golden Bears, tying her career-high with 14 points on 6-13 shooting and adding five rebounds and four steals. Sophomore guard
Jadyn Hanson provided a spark off the bench for CSP, putting up 13 points and four assists.
The Golden Bears will face off with the Peacocks again tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa.
