FAYETTE, Iowa - Concordia-St. Paul (4-2, 1-1 NSIC) picked up its first Northern Sun win of 2022-23 with a 71-62 victory at Upper Iowa (4-3, 0-2 NSIC) on Thursday night at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium.

The Golden Bears trailed early before a 12-2 run gave them a 16-10 lead at the first quarter break. Both teams had an offensive explosion in the second quarter with Concordia outscoring the Peacocks 26-25 to take a seven point lead into halftime.

The CSP women were 10-for-17 from the field (58.8 percent) in the second quarter and showed off their depth in the half as eight Golden Bears put points on the board. On the other side, the UIU offense was sparked by Katie Tornstrom as the senior guard exploded for 12 points in the quarter.

The Golden Bear offense went cold in the third, going 1-for-12 from the field as the Peacocks turned up the defensive intensity coming out of the half. UIU also struggled from the field, but was able to close out the third quarter on a 10-3 run to tie it up 47-47 going into the fourth. 

After a tight start to the quarter, the Golden Bears started to find their rhythm. A Jalyn Shaw three began a 10-3 run that she capped off by converting a three point play to give the Golden Bears a 64-57 lead. It turned into a free throw game as Upper Iowa attempted to get back in the game. Concordia was able to convert their attempts and pushed their lead to 12 points, their largest margin of the game, before a late Peacock 3-pointer would make the final score 71-62.

Sarah Kuma had a strong day for CSP, finishing with a career-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting (54.5 percent) with five rebounds and a block. Ally Gietzel tied Kuma with 19 points for her best scoring output of the season and tied Jalyn Shaw with a team-high seven rebounds..

The Bears showed their depth as five players were able to score off the bench, led by nine points from Shaw. Lauren Dengerud hit both of her shots in the game, including a 3-pointer to start Concordia's big fourth quarter. The freshman also added a block and a steal on the defensive end of the ball.

On the day, the Golden Bears shot 41.1 percent (24-58) from the field and 65.5 percent from the foul line, where they spent plenty of the afternoon with 29 attempts (19-29). Upper Iowa shot an identical 41.1 percent (24-58) from the field, but were kept off the foul line, shooting just 12 total, going 9-12. 

The Peacocks were led by Katie Tornstrom's 23 points on 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 behind the arc. Lydia Haack also put up double digits for UIU, scoring 15 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

The Golden Bears are back home on Saturday for their 1 p.m. matchup against Winona State (7-1, 1-1 NSIC). The Warriors will look to get back on track after dropping their Thursday evening game against Minnesota State 88-69.