ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (1-1) lost to No. 25 Missouri Western State (2-0) 84-71 in the final game of the opening weekend Central Region Crossover Challenge.
With the game tied at 64 with 5:57 left, Missouri Western State's Brionna Budgetts hit a driving layup through contact for the and-one. After hitting the free throw, Budgetts would make a 3-pointer on the next possession to extend the Griffons lead to six. MWSU then ended the game on a 20-7 run.
The Golden Bears started the game strong on a 15-6 run, which would be their largest lead of the game. Missouri Western State would outscore CSP 14-8 to only trail by three points at the end of the opening quarter. The Griffons then outscored the Golden Bears 18-9 in the second quarter to lead 38-32 at the half. The Golden Bears were able to cut the lead to four heading into the fourth quarter.
Junior forward Lindsey Becher led the Golden Bears with 22 points. She led the team from the field shooting 9-17 for a 52.9% field goal percentage. She tallied four rebounds and went 4-5 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Ally Gietzel finished with 20 points shooting 7-14 from the field. She was the leading rebounder for the Golden Bears with seven boards. Gietzel played all 40 minutes in the contest and tallied three assists.
Redshirt freshman forward Lauren Wilson finished in double digits with 12 points and added three rebounds. She went 3-3 from the free-throw line and added two assists. Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud finished with eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
Megan Gamble finished the game with four points, Mikayla Kanenwisher added three points and Emma Mommsen finished with two points.
The Golden Bears shot 27-63 from the field for a 42.9% field goal percentage. Missouri Western State finished 29-47 with a 61.7% field goal percentage. The Golden Bears went 4-18 from behind the arc compared to 4-11 for the Griffons. Missouri Western State made nine more free throws than Concordia.
MWSU outscored the Golden Bears 42-32 in the paint. CSP scored 21 points off of turnovers compared to 13 for the Griffons. Missouri Western's bench outscored Concordia's bench 26-14.
Reigning MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Connie Clarke finished with 25 points for the Griffons. She went 8-10 from the field and 9-10 from the free-throw line. She also added nine rebounds as well to lead the team.
Missouri Western State junior guard Alyssa Bonilla scored 17 points shooting 6-9 from the field. Bonilla led the team with six assists. Budgetts finished with 14 points making a team-high two 3-pointers. Junior forward LaJahda Boyland finished with 10 points in 10 minutes played for the Griffons.
The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball squad will be back in action in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, Nov. 17 to take on Maryville (Mo.). The Golden Bears will then play Truman State (Mo.) on Saturday, Nov. 18.
