ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team defeated Augustana 83-73 after senior guard Ally Gietzel scored a career-high 36 points with a school-record 21 straight free throws after only missing her first attempt of the day.
Gietzel broke the record held by Katie LaViolette against Upper Iowa in 2008 with 17 free throws made in 18 attempts. The senior also tied for the third-highest points in a game in Concordia-St. Paul history. The most points in a game in Golden Bear history is by Jolene Bammert during the 1984-85 season.
"Ally is just so confident at the end of the game for us," said head coach Amanda Johnson. "Just having a guard who is confident to get open and wants the ball in her hands to knock down free throws is such a breath of fresh air for the rest of the team."
With the Golden Bears trailing by seven in the third quarter, the Golden Bears went on an 11-0 run to retake the lead. During the run, CSP held Augustana to 0-8 shooting from the field. The Golden Bears would extend the run to 18-4 over the span of 6:20. CSP would also hold Augustana to 0-5 from behind the 3-point line after the Vikings shot 6-9 in the first half. Concordia would end up having a five-point lead after the end of the quarter.
"We stressed #34 (Michaela Jewett) who was 3-4 at halftime," Johnson said. "We kind of stressed getting hands up on her and being careful not to leave her side. The girls always do a good job of adjusting and understanding that we have to close out higher."
Up 62-54 with 6:03 left, Gietzel hit a 3-pointer following an offensive rebound by Lindsey Becher to extend the lead to 11. Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud would get a steal and a layup on the very next possession to put CSP up by 13.
The Vikings would use full-court pressure to cut the lead down to 73-68 with 2:25 left in the game. Gietzel's free throw shooting was able to keep the lead just out of reach for Augustana to ensure the victory for the Golden Bears.
In the first quarter, the Golden Bears found themselves down 17-7, but Dengerud responded with five straight points. CSP would end the quarter on a 9-3 run after a pair of free throws from Megan Gamble and Gietzel.
Concordia was once again down by eight in the second quarter with 6:22 left in the half but battled back to take its first lead of the game with 1:52 remaining at 34-33. Jewett hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to give the Vikings a 38-36 lead at the break. Gietzel had 14 first-half points and redshirt freshman Lauren Wilson totalled 11.
Gietzel would end up with a double-double with 11 rebounds in her 36-point performance. She drew 14 total fouls in the game and played a team-high 38:17. She also tallied three assists.
Wilson finished with 19 points shooting 70% from the field off the bench. It was her second-highest point total of the season. She led the Golden Bears in steals with three.
"Lauren's another confident freshman and she's so good with her back to the basket," Johnson said. "Lindsey (Becher) is one of our go-to's on the inside but Lauren's been taking over a little bit if Lindsey's not feeling it. Tonight Lauren was just confident with her left hand. She can go both ways but she loves that left hand. I swear that girl knows how to use her body more than most players I've ever coached. Nothing really phases her and she's just really consistent."
Dengerud finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Lindsey Becher tallied eight points, four rebounds and a season-high four blocks. Gamble finished with five points and a team-high four assists.
Augustana was led by Lauren Sees with 25 points and Jewett with 20 points. Jewett finished with a team-high 12 rebounds and Sees had a team-high four assists.
Concordia-St. Paul outscored Augustana in the paint 44-22. CSP's bench finished with a 23-16 advantage over the Vikings bench. There were three lead changes in the game with CSP's biggest lead at 13 and Augie's biggest lead at 10.
Augustana finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds compared to eight for the Golden Bears. The Vikings won the rebounding tally at 41-39. The offensive rebounds allowed them to shoot 22 more shots than CSP, but only made 26 of their 76 total. The Vikings finished 10-23 behind the 3-point line. CSP finished shooting 26-54 from the field and 3-6 from behind the arc.
The Golden Bears return to the Gangelhoff Center on Sunday, Dec. 3 against Wayne State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. after the conclusion of the men's contest.
