ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball (8-10, 5-9 NSIC) looks to finish on a high note as they finish the NSIC North Division segment of their schedule as they welcome Minot State (9-11, 5-9 NSIC) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. before hosting University of Mary (11-6, 10-4 NSIC) on Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.
IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK
This weekend's games will be centered around the Northern Sun's "It's a Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign in which all spectators will be encouraged to pledge not to drive drunk.
MEN'S GOLF NSIC CHAMPIONSHIP RING CEREMONY
On Saturday night during halftime, the Concordia Golden Bears men's golf team will be honored after claiming their first ever NSIC Championship last spring. Student-athletes and coaches will be awarded championship rings during a brief on-court ceremony.
NSIC SOUTH STANDINGS: GOLDEN BEARS REMAIN IN THE HUNT
After 14 conference games this season the Golden Bears sit in fifth place in the NSIC South Division. Their 5-9 conference record puts them a game behind fourth place Wayne State (6-8 NSIC). CSP is two games ahead of Winona State and Sioux Falls who are both 3-11 in conference play and tied for the sixth and final playoff spot in the division. Augustana and Minnesota State are on top of the South Division standings with matching 11-3 conference records with the Mavericks holding the head-to-head advantage with a 84-69 victory over the Vikings in December.
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with cash at the gates. Find out more in the partnership announcement between CSP Athletics and HomeTown Ticketing.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear football games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 7, MINOT STATE 3
The series between the Golden Bears and Beavers began when Minot State joined the Northern Sun in the 2012-13 season, with Concordia winning the first four between the programs. CSP has won two of the last three contests and is undefeated against the Beavers at Gangelhoff Center.
Head coach Amanda Johnson carries a 3-3 record against the Beavers, but the Golden Bears have won both games against Minot State at home under Coach Johnson.
LAST MEETING, 2022: Minot State 81, CSP 70
The Golden Bears led by as many as nine points in the first half, but a 21-point swing in favor of host Minot State allowed the Beavers to lead by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter on their way to topping Concordia-St. Paul 81-70 at the Minot State Dome.
Concordia used a 14-2 run in the first quarter to pull ahead by nine early, 23-14 as Sydney Zgutowicz scored six points during the stretch that saw CSP shoot 5-7 from the floor while limiting host Minot State to 1-8 shooting. The Beavers scored just two points across the four and a half minutes of play as Concordia established early momentum.
Despite Minot State scoring seven straight points in response, Concordia continued to hold the upper hand throughout the half, extending the lead back to six on multiple occasions and trotting into the halftime locker room ahead 37-33.
In the second half, Minot State stole the momentum after Lindsey Becher connected for a jumper to open the scoring to push it back to six (39-33), the Beavers rallied for 13 straight points as Concordia only scored two points on the Becher bucket in the first four and a half minutes of the second half and suddenly trailed 46-39.
The Beavers extended the lead to 10 points, 51-41, a minute later before three-straight three-pointers by Riley Wheatcraft pulled Concordia back within one. A 12-2 stretch by Minot State, fueled by a defensive effort that limited Concordia to just the two points in nearly four and a half minutes of play put the Beavers ahead by 12, 73-61 with just over minutes remaining as they maintained their advantage for the rest of the game to win 81-70.
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Minot State is currently seventh in the NSIC North Division, one game behind MSU Moorhead for the division's final playoff spot. The Beavers enter their game with CSP on Friday on a two game win streak and have won three of their last four. Their only loss in that span came to NSIC South leader Augustana (74-67), in a game where they held a short second half lead.
The Beavers are led by Mike Brandt who is in his second year with the program. Coach Brant has had more than 30 years of coaching experience and over 500 collegiate career wins as a head coach prior to joining Minot State. With coaching jobs with Southern Methodist University (SMU), USC Aiken, and Northeastern Junior College. In his first year with the Beavers the team finished with a 8-18 overall record and 6-13 record in the conference.
Minot State's player to watch is senior guard Kate Head. The Brisbane, Australian native is averaging 16 points per game, which is seventh best in the NSIC, on 42.6-percent shooting from the field and 31.6-percent from behind the arc. Head tied Minot State's assist record in 2021-22 with 123 and is sixth in the NSIC this season with 67.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 14, UMary 7
The Golden Bears will meet the Marauders for the 22nd time on Saturday, with all but one of those games coming after UMary joined the Northern Sun in 2006-07. CSP won the first four and five of the first six through the 2008-09 season before UMary won three of the next four. After Concordia won five straight games from 2012-13 to 2016-17, the Marauders won two in a row before the Golden Bears got back on top with wins over UMary in their last two game.
Concordia has been strong against UMary at home, winning eight of nine; but have split games with the Marauders in Bismarck with a 5-5 record all-time with a win in their most recent matchup in 2022.
Under head coach Amanda Johnson (2016-present), Concordia is 4-2 against UMary and 2-0 at home in Gangelhoff Center against the Marauders, with victories in 2017 and 2020.
LAST MEETING, 2022: CSP 79, UMary 53
The Golden Bears used a 19-2 scoring run spanning over six and a half minutes between the first and second quarters to mount a 29-10 lead with 6:23 to play in the first half and never looked back. Concordia led by as many as 20 in the first half before carrying a 40-23 lead into the break.
Lindsey Becher scored six of her season-high 22 points during the run, finishing with a double-double as she added a career-high 12 rebounds to go with three more blocked shots as she surpassed 100 for her career. She shot 10-15 from the field and added three assists.
In the first half, Concordia held a 16-6 advantage in turnovers as junior Meghan DuBois secured six steals in the first quarter alone on her way to picking off a career-high eight in the game, the third-most recorded in CSP's Division II era since 1999-2000 and just one shy of the single game DII-era record.
DuBois finished with seven points, eight steals, five assists and three rebounds in another solid all-around performance as four other Golden Bears scored in double-figures.
UMary would close the margin to single digits late in the third quarter, 53-44 with under a minute to play in the quarter but that was as close as the game would get as CSP pushed it back into double-digits and kept the lead there the rest of the way.
Joining Becher in double-figures was Jadyn Hanson with 16 points including 3-of-3 from long distance, adding five rebounds and four assists while Riley Wheatcraft added 12 points and Sydney Zgutowicz finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
UMary is comfortably in third place in the NSIC North Division with a two game lead on fourth place Minnesota Crookston. They have momentum going into their weekend in Minnesota, riding a three game win streak and having won five of their last six games. They take on Minnesota State in Mankato on Friday night, before making the drive up to St. Paul to take on the Golden Bears.
The Marauders have the fifth highest scoring offense in the NSIC and they have won their last three games by an average of 19 points. They have the fourth most assists in the conference which has led to open looks, leading to them having the fourth best shooting percentage as a team in the NSIC. They have had trouble holding onto the ball, turning it over the fourth most times in the conference and averaging 16.6 giveaways a game.
Senior guard Megan Zander is the Marauders player to watch as the North Dakota State transfer has found her rhythm in her second year with the program. Zander is top 10 in scoring in the conference, averaging 15.4 points per game while averaging 5.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Zander is not the only Megan to make an impact for Umary this season, as the Marauder's Megan Voit has been a premier deep threat this season. The senior guard is averaging 9.7 points per game, is third in the conference in 3-pointers made (45), fourth in 3-point percentage, and is averaging the most 3-pointers per game in the NSIC.
