CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (8-8, 5-7 NSIC) used their best shooting game of the season to beat Minnesota Crookston (8-10, 7-5 NSIC) 84-69. The Golden Bears shot 51.6-percent from the field and as a team dished out a season high 20 assists in the win.

CSP got off to a great start for the second night in a row, rebounding from a 6-8 deficit to go on a 11-2 run that would give them a lead they would hold to the end. Ally Gietzel scored the last three buckets in the quarter, hitting the third on a pull-up jump shot with 8-seconds left. The Golden Bears hit 60-percent of their shots from the field (9-of-15) in the quarter to give them a 19-12 lead. 

After a Leah Dengerud layup to start the quarter, UMC freshman Emma Miller started a 9-2 run for the Golden Eagles, closing it out with a 3-pointer to bring them within two, 23-21. That would be the closest Minnesota Crookston would be for the rest of the game as the Bears would finish the quarter outscoring them 15-6 for the rest of the quarter to lead 38-27 at the half. The Golden Bears saw success from behind the arc during the stretch, with Lauren Feddema, Jalyn Shaw, Megan Gamble, and Raegan Alexander all finding the bottom of the net from deep.

After giving up their halftime lead on Friday night, the Golden Bears made it clear they were in control of this game, going on a 14-0 run to start the second half. The Golden Bears would continue to put the ball in the basket for the rest of the third quarter to take a 27 point lead into the fourth quarter, 67-40. The CSP women had their best 3-pointing shooting quarter, going 5-for-8 and were 11-of-15 from the field. Gietzel had 12 of her career high 20 points in the quarter, shooting 5-for-6 with three of those from being 3-pointers.

With the big lead, Concordia was able to give everyone rest in the fourth quarter while and the Golden Eagles tried to take advantage of it, posting their highest point total in a quarter and outsourcing CSP 29-17. After hitting just two three pointers in the first three quarters, UMC connected on six from deep in the fourth. Makayla Johnson would put an end to Crookston's last run of the game, scoring on an assist from Sarah Kuma. Johnson would lead the team in scoring in the fourth quarter, posting six points, and four rebounds in the final quarter to help close out the victory, 84-69.

Ally Gietzel was the player of the game for CSP, tying her career high with 20 points on 53.3-percent shooting from the field (8-of-15), and was 2-of-4 from behind the arc. The junior was one rebound shy of a double-double, pulling down a team-high nine rebounds, to go with four assists and three blocks.

Sophomore forward Megan Gamble scored 14 points for the second night in a row, shooting a very efficient 75-percent from the field (6-of-8), and knocked down two of her three 3-point shots. It was another productive night for Gamble as she led the team in assists with five, had seven rebounds, and a steal. 

For the second night in a row the Golden Bears had four with double-digits as Lauren Feddema and Jalyn Shaw both scored 12 points in the game. It was a career high for Feddema as the freshman guard hit two 3-pointers while shooting 80-percent from the field (4-of-5), adding four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Shaw joined Gamble in scoring double-figures in back-to-back games, dishing out two assists, and a steal in the contest. 

The Concordia women are back on the road next week as they take on MSU Moorhead on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Northern State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.