ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (10-10, 7-9 NSIC) play their last home back-to-back set of games this weekend, taking on Sioux Falls (6-16, 3-13 NSIC) on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Southwest Minnesota State (13-8, 10-6 NSIC) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. 

SOUTH DIVISION PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Golden Bears are currently the fourth seed in the South Division and are one game ahead of Wayne State (10-10, 6-10 NSIC) heading into the weekend. The Wildcats have the head-to-head advantage over CSP with their December 9, 62-53 victory in St. Paul, but the two teams meet one more time in Wayne State on February 11th. 

Sioux Falls sits in last place in the NSIC South and are one game back of Winona State (10-12, 4-12 NSIC) and Upper Iowa (8-13, 4-12 NSIC) who are tied for the sixth and final playoff spot in the South Division. 

Southwest Minnesota State is comfortably in third place in the division with a 10-6 conference record and three games ahead of CSP. The Mustangs are three games behind #17 Minnesota State (17-3, 13-3 NSIC) and Augustana (19-3, 13-3 NSIC) who are tied atop the South standings. 

ARIKA HARBO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CEREMONY
Concordia-St. Paul track and field senior and two-time NCAA Division II National High Jump Champion Arika Harbo will be honored during halftime of Friday's men's game. The St. Paul native made program history last year as she became the school's first ever NCAA Individual Champion in the high jump in the indoor season before repeating the feat in the outdoor season.
 
MYLES BRAND ACADEMIC WITH DISTINCTION AWARD CEREMONY
During halftime of the women's contest on Friday, CSP's 17 NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award winners will be honored with a brief on-court ceremony. Concordia's 17 selections, including women's basketball's Faith Alberts and Shawna Mell, is the second highest total in school history.

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 14, USF 8
The Golden Bears hold a .636 winning percentage against Sioux Falls dating back to when the Cougars joined the NSIC in 2012-13 with CSP winning the first six meetings. 

Recently, the Golden Bears have won the last four contests with an 10.8 point average margin of victory. Concordia is 7-4 at home against USF, but has split the last four at Gangelhoff Center.

Under head coach Amanda Johnson, Concordia is 8-7 against Sioux Falls overall and 4-4 at home against the Cougars dating back to January 2016.

LAST MEETING, Dec. 17: CSP 59, USF 49
The Golden Bears opened and closed the game out strong with 10 point point leads both near the start of the second quarter and to finish the game, but were down as many as nine points in the fourth quarter.

Ally Gietzel led the Golden Bears in scoring, putting up 16 points along with four rebounds, three assists. The junior made the most of her damage from the foul line, going 10-12 from the charity stripe.

Concordia took an early lead after 3-point baskets from Alyssa Daugherty and Jalyn Shaw to go up 11-6. The Bears forced eight turnovers in the quarter, including a steal by Megan Gamble that she pushed up the floor for a fast-break layup by Sarah Kuma to close out the first quarter with a 16-10 lead.

The CSP women stretched the lead to 10 after back-to-back baskets from Becher to make the score to 20-10 early in the second quarter. The Cougars started to turn the tables on the Golden Bears, holding them to just four points for the last eight minutes of the half, and cut the CSP lead to 24-21 at the midway point.

The third quarter belonged to the Cougars as they started the half on a 14-3 run, allowing just six shots from CSP, all falling off target. Sioux Falls guard Megan Fannin was the spark for USF, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc during the run. The Bears finished the quarter scoring six of the last eight points, capped off by a Lindsey Becher jumper that brought life to Concordia going into the fourth down four, 37-33. 

The beginning of the quarter did not look promising for CSP after a quick layup and 3-pointer from Sioux Falls gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the game, 42-33 with 8:36 left in the game. Just as USF seemed to have momentum, everything fell apart as the Concordia full-court press started to turn up the pressure, forcing five turnovers to go on a 10-1 run and tie it on a steal and assist from Gamble to Gietzel for the fast-break layup.

Gamble would break the tie a few minutes later, pulling a Becher miss and going back up strong for basket. A 3-pointer from the Clear Lake native started a 16-6 run to close out the game, with the Golden Bears converting nine of their 10 free throws for a 59-49 victory.  

ABOUT THE COUGARS
USF has had a rough 2022-23 season so far. The Cougars are tied with Bemidji State for last place in the conference after being picked to finish fourth in NSIC. Sioux Falls enters the game on a four game losing streak with their last win coming on January 14, against MSU Moorhead. 

The Cougars have struggled to put points on the board this season and have lowest scoring average in the NSIC at 57.6 and second worst average scoring margin at -11.7. Sioux Falls has also had a rough time on the glass, ranking in last place in the NSIC in average team rebounds per game (32) and rebounding margin (-5.4). USF has done a good job forcing misses from behind the arc, keeping opponents 3-point shooting percentage at 30.5-percent, ranking in the top half of the conference. This does not bode well for the Concordia offense as they have the lowest 3-point percentage at 26.3-percent.

Sioux Falls player to watch this season has been Olivia Gamoke. The sophomore guard is averaging 10.5 points per game with 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals. The Onalaska, Wis. native has scored in double digits in 10 of the last 12 games, including 19 points while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 1-of-2 from deep. The Golden Bears were able to get her in foul trouble and shut her down in their first meeting, holding her to just four points with four fouls.

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 45, SMSU 18
The Golden Bears continue to hold a firm grip on the all-time series as the teams meet for the 64th time this Saturday. 
 
After starting 4-14 against the Mustangs in games played between 1975 and 2002, the Golden Bears have a 40-4 record against SMSU with all four of those losses coming at the R/A Facility in Marshall where SMSU picked up wins in 2005, 2011 and 2021, 2022. Concordia has won 19 of the last 21 matchups.
 
Since being promoted to head coach in 2016, Amanda Johnson holds a 13-2 record against SMSU and is 6-0 at home against the Mustangs. 

LAST MEETING, Dec. 16: CSP 62, SMSU 60 
Ally Gietzel led the Golden Bears who had three players finish in double figures in the closely contested one-possession victory over the Mustangs. Lindsey Becher recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jadyn Hanson added 13 points on the night.
 
The Mustangs used a 7-0 run early in the first quarter to swing the momentum in their favor to begin the game. A three-point jumper from Jenna Borchers would give SMSU a double-digit lead with 7:11 left in the opening quarter. However, a jumper from Gietzel would spark a 7-0 run for the Golden Bears, bringing them within three before the end of the first quarter.
 
The two teams traded baskets and the lead throughout the second quarter. A layup from Megan Gamble would give the Golden Bears their first lead of the game with 7:35 remaining in the first half. Concordia could only extend their lead to as many as four points. A late jumper from Sam Wall with :35 left before halftime gave the Mustangs the late advantage. However, Becher would hit a layup at the buzzer to give CSP a 32-31 lead heading into the half.
 
After both teams failed to connect on their first possessions of the second half, Gietzel collected her second steal of the contest off a Hannah Parsley turnover and then used the fast break to give the Golden Bears their first basket of the third quarter. The two teams would go on to have four lead changes before the end of the quarter, but the Golden Bears would hold a two-point lead heading into the final period.
 
Leah Dengerud kicked off the final quarter with a layup from Becher in the opening minute, which sparked a 6-0 run and gave the Golden Bears their largest lead of the game (8pts) with 6:19 remaining. However, the Mustangs would rally their way back and tied the game with 2:47 remaining. Hanson would break two of the three gridlocks at the free-throw line before Gietzel sealed the game with a clutch layup with :22 left in the game. The Mustangs would have one last chance in the final seconds, but the Golden Bears would hold on for the 62-60 victory.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
It has been an up and down season so far for Southwest Minnesota State with big wins against South Division leaders Augustana (94-60) and #17 Minnesota State (88-85), but have dropped games to the two teams beneath them in the division with losses to Wayne State (72-62) and Concordia (62-60).

The Mustangs have been deadly from 3-point land this season, hitting the highest percentage in the conference at 37.2-percent. SMSU has also made the most 3-pointers in the NSIC and are top 10 in Division II for both categories. Behind the power of the 3-pointer, the Mustangs are averaging 74.9 points per game which is 23rd in the country and second in the NSIC behind #17 Minnesota State.

Southwest Minnesota State's players to watch are Sam Wall and Bri Stoltzman. Wall is averaging 13.4 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from the field, 41.7-percent from three which ranks second in the conference. The junior guard leads the NSIC and 21st in the country in 3-point baskets with 53. Wall is coming off her best game against Minnesota Crookston where she scored 22 points with six 3-pointers.

Stoltzman is averaging 13.1 points per game, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Her shooting percentage of 52.7 has her in the top 50 nationally and third in the NSIC. The sophomore's best game came against UMary where she scored 24 points, going 9-of-16 from the floor with three rebounds and two steals.