ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul's four game winning streak came to a close on Friday night, falling 73-69 to NSIC North Division leader St. Cloud State (10-2, 8-1 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall. Concordia led for over 65 percent of the contest on the night.

Concordia, who falls to 10-3 overall and 6-3 NSIC, continues its first action against the NSIC North Division tomorrow with a 5:30 tip-off at Minnesota Duluth (9-4, 7-2 NSIC) at Romano Gym. The Bulldogs topped NSIC South Division leading Minnesota State tonight 61-52 as CSP remains one game out of first in the NSIC South Division standings.

Senior guard Riley Wheatcraft led Concordia with 20 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting, her second-straight 20-point game with four three-pointers. She added six rebounds.

The Golden Bears led by 16 (39-23) late in the second quarter (2:11) following a 21-4 scoring run that spanned over six minutes of play as CSP shot 8-10 from the field and converted 4-5 from the arc while holding SCSU to 2-10 shooting with five turnovers during the stretch. Concordia started the game 6-of-7 from three-point distance in building the 16-point margin. It was an interesting swing, as the game's first quarter featured six lead changes and three ties and was knotted at 15 after 10 minutes.

St. Cloud State answered, though, using a 12-1 spurt across 2:11 of play spanning the end of the second and beginning of the third quarters to pull within five, 40-35, early in the third quarter.

At the half, Concordia maintained a 12-point edge, 40-28, just the third time this year SCSU trailed at the break. At the break, CSP held a 14-2 margin in points off turnovers and its 16-point largest lead dwarfed SCSU's large lead of two. The Golden Bears gained momentum by shooting 69.2 percent (9-13) from the floor and 71.4 percent (5-7) from three in the second quarter while limiting SCSU to 29.4 percent (5-17) from the field and 0-4 from three.

Once the game tightened, it stayed that way. A three-pointer by Jadyn Hanson pushed the lead back to eight, 45-37 as Meghan DuBois collected her fourth assist of the night. She added two more free throws a minute later for a 47-39 lead with 5:42 to play in the third quarter.

Hanson finished with 10 points while DuBois had a big night, scoring 15 of her 17 points in the first half while finishing with nine rebounds and six assists.

SCSU continued to chisel away at the lead, though, scoring the next six points to make it a 1-point game, 47-46 with under three minutes to play in the quarter while the Golden Bears continued to protect their slim lead, heading into the fourth quarter up by four, 54-50 as Wheatcraft drained another three-pointer down the stretch.

The Huskies finally reclaimed their lead early in the fourth quarter, 57-56 with 7:42 to play. Concordia momentarily went back on top 59-58 a minute later on a Hanson free throw before St. Cloud State rallied for its largest lead of the night of five points with just over five minutes left (64-59).

Concordia answered as DuBois connected with freshman post Lindsey Becher in the lane for a bucket as Becher finished with eight points and four blocked shots, her seventh game with at least four blocks on the year and padding her NCAA Division II best with 48 on the season.

After a pair of defensive stops, DuBois found Wheatcraft for an open three-pointer to tie the game at 64 with just over four minutes to play. Concordia went back on top late as DuBois made a pair of free throws with just over two minutes remaining for a 68-67 advantage.

But in the final two minutes, the Golden Bears only attempted one shot (a miss), went 1-for-2 at the foul line and committed a pair of turnovers including a turnover with 2.3 seconds left and trailing 71-69.

Overall, free throw shooting was costly for Concordia, who made went to the foul line seven more times than the Huskies but managed just one more point than SCSU. CSP shot 58.3 percent (14-24) at the stripe compared to SCSU's more efficient 76.5 (13-17). Concordia was also out-muscled inside, as SCSU held a 41-33 rebounding advantage against a Golden Bear squad that leads the league in rebounding and has been among the league's best in rebound margin all season. The difference was more pronounced on the offensive glass, where SCSU held a 17-9 margin in offensive rebounds and a 42-26 edge in points in the paint.

Concordia's free throw shooting woes and SCSU paint advantage offset CSP's three-point dominance as the Golden Bears made 9-of-20 for 45.0 percent on the road nets at Halenbeck Hall while SCSU converted just 16.7 percent (2-12) as CSP's arc defense continues to shine.

The Golden Bears shot 45.1 percent (23-51) from the field, toping SCSU's 42.6 percent (29-68), but the Huskies attempted 17 more shots in the game. It's just the third time this year an opponent has shot over 40 percent against Concordia, all three coming on the road with CSP holding a 1-2 record in those contests.

Sydney Schultz led Concordia's bench with an efficient six points, hitting 2-2 from the floor and 2-3 from the foul line, adding three rebounds and an assist in 17 minutes of work.

Nikki Kilboten led the Huskies with 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots while shooting 8-15 from the floor while Tori Wortz scored 18 points and Brehna Evans added 16.