MOOREHEAD, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (8-9, 5-8 NSIC) was defeated 73-65 on Friday night, falling to Minnesota Moorhead (9-8, 6-7 NSIC).
Ally Gietzel led the team in scoring with 22 points and had 12 rebounds, setting her career high in both categories, and picked up her third double-double of the season. The junior also added two assists and a block.
Raegan Alexander had her best game of the season against her former team, as the MSUM transfer scored a career high 18 points on 58.3-percent shooting from the field (7-12), and was 3-of-6 from behind the arc. The redshirt-freshman also pulled down four rebounds and had two steals.
The Golden Bears got off to a rough start on Friday night as MSU Moorhead jumped out to a 15-5 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Bears answered back by scoring the last six points of the quarter, capping it off with a 3-pointer from Raegan Alexander at the buzzer to bring them within four at the break, 15-11.
Alexander continued to play well against her former team in the second quarter, going 4-for-4 from the field and knocking down another 3-pointer. As a team, the CSP women were 9-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc. Alexander and Ally Gietzel combined for 14 points during a 16-4 Concordia run that would give the Golden Bears the lead going into the half.
The third quarter was once again Concordia's undoing as the Dragons would outscore CSP 27-8 in the period. The Golden Bears got off to a quick start with two baskets from Leah Dengerud, but the momentum flipped as MSUM would go on a 23-3 run that would last until just under a minute left in the third. The run was fueled by free-throws, as the Dragons would knock down all 10 of their opportunities from the foul line. The Golden Bear's shooting would also take a step back as the CSP women shot just 3-of-17 from the field (17.1-percent) while falling behind 56-42 heading into the final quarter.
The Bears did their best to fight back into the game, pulling off a 14-4 run to bring them within seven, 63-56. The CSP full court press sparked the run and kept the Dragons off-balance, but MSUM finally started to crack it, answering with their own 6-0 run to put the game back to double-digits. A layup from Alexander and 3-pointer from Megan Gamble to close out the game would bring it to an eight point deficit as MSU Moorhead took the win 73-65.
For the game, Concordia shot 39.7-percent from the field (23-of-58) and 25-percent from behind the arc (7-of-28). MSUM shot 42.1-percent from the field (24-57 and 36.8-percent (7-19) from three. The Golden Bears were 12-of-16 from the foul-line, while the Dragons shot a perfect 18-of-18. MSU Moorhead also had a major advantage on the boards, out-rebounding CSP 42-28, and out-scoring them 17-9 in second chance points.
Concordia looks to get back on track tomorrow as they travel to South Dakota to take on the Northern State Wolves tomorrow at 6:00 p.m.
