ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball (13-13, 10-12 NSIC) heads into the 2022-23 NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament as the fourth seed from the NSIC South Division. The Golden Bears face MSU Moorhead (14-12, 11-11 NSIC) on the road on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in the opening round of the tournament.
The programs will meet in the NSIC Tournament for the first time since 2008, when CSP defeated the Dragons 71-58 to advance to the NSIC Championship.
Thel winner will advance to the quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon to play the top seed from the North Division, #11 Minnesota Duluth, on Saturday February 25 at 11:00 a.m.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
The NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament will be available to watch online, free of charge, produced by Midco Sports and supported by BlueFrame Technology on the NSIC Network. 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.
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have won the NSIC Tournament championship four times, most recently in 2013-14 when the program won the NCAA Central Region Tournament to reach the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals (Elite Eight) for the first time.
Head coach Amanda Johnson (Behnke) has been involved in three of the four NSIC Tournament titles, the first two as the NSIC Player of the Year, and the most recent as an assistant coach prior to being promoted to the head coach position in 2016.
Under Johnson's leadership, the Golden Bears have advanced as far as the NSIC Tournament semifinals as recently as the 2022 NSIC Tournament, defeating Bemidji State in the quarterfinal before falling to St. Cloud State. Overall, CSP is 4-7 in the NSIC Tournament in Johnson's head coaching career.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
The NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament will be available to watch online, free of charge, produced by Midco Sports and supported by BlueFrame Technology on the NSIC Network. 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.
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have won the NSIC Tournament championship four times, most recently in 2013-14 when the program won the NCAA Central Region Tournament to reach the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals (Elite Eight) for the first time.
Head coach Amanda Johnson (Behnke) has been involved in three of the four NSIC Tournament titles, the first two as the NSIC Player of the Year, and the most recent as an assistant coach prior to being promoted to the head coach position in 2016.
Under Johnson's leadership, the Golden Bears have advanced as far as the NSIC Tournament semifinals as recently as the 2018 NSIC Tournament, winning at St. Cloud State in the first round before a quarterfinal win over Wayne State, falling to Winona State in the semifinals. Overall, CSP is 3-6 in the NSIC Tournament in Johnson's head coaching career.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 24, MSUM 18
Concordia and MSU Moorhead will meet for the 43rd time on Wednesday with Concordia winning the first four games in the series played prior to its entrance as a Division II and NSIC member in 1999-2000. After MSU Moorhead snapped CSP's 4-game streak when Concordia became the Golden Bears in 1999-2000 by winning four in a row, the Golden Bears went 18-5 against the Dragons from the 2001-02 season to the 2010-11 season, spanning 10 years of dominance in the series.
But the Dragons have flipped the series again by winning seven in a row before the Bears took a victory in 2022.
Concordia has a 4-0 record against MSU Moorhead in the NSIC Tournament, with two of those victories coming in the NSIC Championship game.
Head coach Amanda Behnke is 1-6 against MSU Moorhead and 0-3 on the road, where Concordia is 7-10 all-time against MSUM.
LAST MEETING, JANUARY 2023: MSUM 73, CSP 65
The Golden Bears got off to a rough start in their first matchup with MSU Moorhead jumping out to a 15-5 lead halfway through the first quarter. The Bears answered back by scoring the last six points of the quarter, capping it off with a 3-pointer from Raegan Alexander at the buzzer to bring them within four at the break, 15-11.
Alexander continued to play well against her former team in the second quarter, going 4-for-4 from the field and knocking down another 3-pointer. As a team, the CSP women were 9-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-8 from behind the arc. Alexander and Ally Gietzel combined for 14 points during a 16-4 Concordia run that would give the Golden Bears the lead going into the half.
The third quarter would be Concordia's undoing as the Dragons would outscore CSP 27-8 in the period. The Golden Bears got off to a quick start with two baskets from Leah Dengerud, but the momentum flipped as MSUM would go on a 23-3 run that would last until just under a minute left in the third. The run was fueled by free-throws, as the Dragons would knock down all 10 of their opportunities from the foul line. The Golden Bear's shooting would also take a step back as the CSP women shot just 3-of-17 from the field (17.1-percent) while falling behind 56-42 heading into the final quarter.
The Bears did their best to fight back into the game, pulling off a 14-4 run to bring them within seven, 63-56. The CSP full court press sparked the run and kept the Dragons off-balance, but MSUM finally started to crack it, answering with their own 6-0 run to put the game back to double-digits. A layup from Alexander and a 3-pointer from Megan Gamble to close out the game would bring it to an eight point deficit as MSU Moorhead took the win 73-65.
Ally Gietzel led the team in scoring with 22 points and had 12 rebounds, setting her career high in both categories, and picked up her third double-double of the season. The junior also added two assists and a block.
Raegan Alexander had her best game of the season against her former team, as the MSUM transfer scored a career high 18 points on 58.3-percent shooting from the field (7-12), and was 3-of-6 from behind the arc. The redshirt-freshman also pulled down four rebounds and had two steals.
ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead enters the NSIC Tournament as the fifth seed in the NSIC North Division and won four of their last five to secure home court in the opening round. The Dragons are coached by Karla Nelson who led them for the past 23 seasons and was at the helm during the last three playoff matchups between MSUM and CSP.
The Dragons had the fifth best defense in the conference in the season, giving up an average of 62.3 points per game. They have been strong on the boards, ranking fourth in the conference in total rebounds and third in rebounding margin this season. MSUM has done a good job holding onto the ball, committing the second fewest turnovers in the conference (345) behind Division II's best team in securing the basketball, Northern State.
Moorhead is led by the guard-center combo of Mariah McKeever and Peyton Boom. McKeever ranks second behind conference leader Lydia Haack in minutes per game and leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game. Boom leads the conference and is 17th in Division II with a 56.2 field goal percentage. The senior center has the most offensive rebounds in the conference and is fifth in total rebounds per game with eight.
