MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (14-13, 10-12 NSIC) punched their ticket to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Friday night, defeating MSU Moorhead (14-13, 11-11) 62-50 in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament.

Ally Gietzel and former Dragon Raegan Alexander led the way with 19 points each and had major impacts on both sides of the ball. Gietzel added seven rebounds, four assists and played tough defense throughout despite picking up her third foul early in the second half.

Alexander had an amazing game against her old program, scoring her 19 points shooting an impressive 72.4-percent from the field and knocking down both of her 3-point attempts.

Defense took center stage in the first quarter with both feeling each other out. The Bears picked up four key steals to gain the advantage and put the Dragons off balance. Leah Dengerud knocked down two 3-pointers near the end of the quarter to give CSP a 12-9 lead at the first break. 

Concordia rode the momentum into the second quarter, out-scoring MSUM 24-9 in the period. The Golden Bears opened the quarter on a 11-2 run with Gietzel scoring the first seven points to lead 24-9 with five minutes to play in the half. Gietzel would spark another run with 3:30 on the clock as the Bears closed out the half with 11 of the final 14 points to double up the Dragons at the midway point 36-18.

Things took a turn in Moorhead's favor in the third quarter as the CSP offense went stagnant. A 15-2 run by MSUM that lasted for nine minutes of the quarter cut the Golden Bears lead to five. The Concordia women finally settled down with a minute left to go in the third quarter and scored the final two baskets of the quarter, including a layup from Gietzel with three-seconds left before the buzzer, to go into the final period with a 42-33 lead. 

The Bears regained their poise in the fourth quarter, shooting 50-percent from the field (8-of-16) and the 3-point line (2-of-4). The Bears started on a 8-2 run before 3-pointers from Alexander and Megan Gamble put the game away. The biggest blow to MSUM came during the run when star center Peyton Boom was forced to exit the game with her fifth foul. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the way as Concordia coasted to a 12 point win, 62-50.

The Golden Bears shot 43.3-percent for the game (26-of-60), including 41.2-percent from behind the arc (7-of-17). CSP held Moorhead to 37.5-percent from the field (19-of-51) and 38.5-percent from the 3-point line (5-of-13). Concorda picked up seven steals in the contest, turning them into a 20-9 advantage on points off turnovers. The Bears were aggressive on the offensive boards, pulling down 13 offensive rebounds while out-scoring MSU Moorhead 15-5 in second chance points.

With the win the Golden Bears advance to the NSIC quarterfinals and will play top seeded #9 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CSP will look to avenge their 62-34 loss to the Bulldogs in their regular season matchup in January.