SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Second-seeded NSIC South Concordia-St. Paul (19-8) saw its run in the 2022 NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament come to a close on Monday evening in the semifinals, falling 78-49 to the NSIC North's top seed #13 St. Cloud State (23-3) at the Sanford Pentagon.
The Golden Bears entered play having won eight of its last nine games down the stretch including an NSIC Tournament quarterfinal win over Bemidji State on Sunday that snapped a four game NSIC Tournament skid dating back to the 2018 NSIC Tournament semifinals.
St. Cloud State advances to the NSIC Tournament championship on Tuesday night, bringing a 12-game winning streak to the league title game.
Concordia was led by a pair of fourth year players, junior
Meghan DuBois and sophomore
Sydney Zgutowicz with 15 points each. Zgutowicz was 6-10 from the field, grabbed four rebounds and a pair of steals while DuBois hit a pair of three-pointers (2-5), got the line six times (5-6) and had five assists.
The Huskies came out hot, hitting three straight three-pointers while starting the night on an 11-0 run.
Concordia made a pair of runs to get back into the game, starting with a 12-4 spurt in the first quarter in response to the 11-0 start by SCSU. During the run,
Meghan DuBois and
Riley Wheatcraft each had five points, with Wheatcraft opening the scoring with a three-pointer and concluding the run with a driving layup. CSP held SCSU to 1-6 shooting during the four and a half minute stretch of play and forced three turnovers.
But St. Cloud State scored the final six points of the quarter and held the Golden Bears to six points in the second as part of a 23-6 run to end the half.
In the second quarter, SCSU's defense held Concordia to 16.7 percent (2-12) shooting including 0-4 from the arc.
CSP's second field goal of the quarter was a short-lived momentum play as sophomore guard
Jadyn Hanson hit a step-back jumper in the closing seconds. SCSU responded by hitting a contested baseball throw from just inside halfcourt at the buzzer, though, storming out to a 40-20 lead at the break.
The run continued to open the third, as SCSU scored the first seven points of the second half.
Lindsey Becher's layup with 7:13 to play in the third quarter closed out the Huskies' 30-6 run spanning the end of the first through the start of the third quarter, turning a 3-point game (17-14) into a 27-point margin (47-20).
Becher's layup was the stop of SCSU's big run, and a few minutes later, Concordia started its own 10-0 run that included back-to-back three-pointers from Zgutowicz and then DuBois to make it a 17-point game (49-32) with 5:37 to play in the third.
It was Concordia's best quarter of the game, scoring 19 points on 43.4 percent (7-16) shooting but the Huskies kept pace, hitting 57.1 percent (8-14) from the field and scored 20 points.
After cutting it 17, the Huskies responded with the next seven points to restore the 20-plus point margin.
Concordia cut it down to 19 three times early in the fourth quarter, but were unable to sustain another big run at St. Cloud State.
The Golden Bears finished the game shooting 32.7 percent (18-55) from the floor and 25.0 percent (4-16) from the arc while hitting 75.0 percent (9-12) at the foul line.
The Huskies countered by shooting 46.9 percent (30-64) from the field, 47.6 percent (10-21) from three and a similar 72.7 percent (8-11) at the line.
St. Cloud State was led by Nikki Kilboten's 18 points and nine rebounds as four Huskies hit double-figures on the night. Kelsey Peschel hit 4-5 and Tori Wortz was 3-6 from the arc to lead SCSU's perimeter game.
