MANKATO, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (9-3, 5-2 NSIC) fell to Minnesota State (9-4, 6-1 NSIC) by a score of 72-61. The Maverick forced 35 turnovers, scoring 38 points off of those turnovers.
The Golden Bears trailed 21-11 after the first quarter. Minnesota State's press proved to be a problem all day for CSP and it started early forcing 12 first-quarter turnovers. After leading 7-6 early, Minnesota State went on a 14-5 run to end the opening quarter with a 21-11 advantage. The Mavericks outscored Concordia 15-2 off of turnovers in the opening quarter and took 10 more shots than the Golden Bears.
The Golden Bears started the second quarter strong with a 7-0 run featuring four quick points from redshirt freshman center Emma Mommsen and a 3-pointer by senior forward Jalyn Shaw. Minnesota State halted that run with a 6-0 run of their own and would hold its nine-point lead throughout the second quarter. The Mavericks finished it on a 4-0 run to take a 13-point lead into the halftime break. Minnesota State held a 25-5 advantage on points off of turnovers at the half.
The Golden Bears started strong once again in the third quarter, using a 12-4 run to cut the Minnesota State lead to 45-40. The Mavericks would answer CSP's run with a 14-0 run of their own to end the third quarter. The Golden Bears were held scoreless for the last 5:13 of the quarter. Minnesota State had its largest lead of the game at 59-40 heading into the fourth.
Concordia-St. Paul would make a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter outscoring the Mavericks 21-13. The Golden Bears used a 16-4 run to cut the lead down to six points with 59 seconds left. Minnesota State made five out of its last six free throws to seal the victory.
Junior forward Megan Gamble led the way for the Golden Bears with a season-high 16 points. She went 6-9 from the field and 3-3 from behind the 3-point line. She also tallied a season-high three steals.
Junior center Lindsey Becher also finished with 16 points as 10 came in the fourth quarter. She played all 10 minutes of the final quarter shooting 5-7 from the field. In total, she finished the game shooting 8-11 from the field and added seven rebounds with two blocks along with two steals.
Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud finished with a team-high eight rebounds which was also her highest tally of the season. She also tallied three assists and three steals. Mommsen ended up with eight points along with three rebounds.
Senior guard Ally Gietzel had a tough game shooting 0-8 from the field. She ended up producing in the other statistical categories with a team-high four assists along with seven rebounds. Lauren Wilson finished with four points and Shaw had three points. Gietzel, Mikayla Kanenwisher and Lauren Feddema finished with two points each.
Minnesota State was led by Joey Batt scoring 17 points shooting 8-13 from the field. She also tallied a team-high six steals. Destinee Bursch finished with 16 points with a team-high four assists. Hannah Herzig finished with 15 points and five steals.
Minnesota State finished with a slight 40-38 advantage in the paint. They outscored CSP 18-5 off of fast break points. Minnesota State had the lead for 37:51 in the contest.
Concordia shot 43.3% from the field while Minnesota State shot 38.4%. The Mavericks did shoot 13 more field goals than the Golden Bears. CSP went 5-15 from behind the arc compared to 1-14 from Minnesota State. MSU shot 15-17 from the free throw line compared to 4-6 from CSP.
This marked the seventh win in a row for Minnesota State and they continue to be tied for first place in the NSIC with Northern State (9-3, 5-1 NSIC). Concordia-St. Paul is in a six-way tie for second place with Minnesota Duluth, Southwest Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Crookston and UMary.
The Golden Bears are back in action in 2024 on Friday, Jan. 5 against Minot State for a home game in the Gangelhoff Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The squad will also play UMary on Saturday, Jan. 6 in the Gangelhoff Center at 5:30 p.m.
