ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (14-13) are on their way to South Dakota to compete in the NSIC Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The Golden Bears defeated MSU Moorhead in their opening round playoff game, 62-50, to set up a matchup with #9 Minnesota Duluth (24-3) in the tournament quarterfinals.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
The NSIC Women's 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 went on to win the NCAA Central Region Tournament to reach the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals (Elite Eight) for the first time.
Under Head Coach Amanda 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 during Johnson's tenure as head coach.
Concordia is 2-2 in NSIC quarterfinal games since Johnson took over the program. In her first year at the helm, the Bears fell to #8 Winona State, 68-64. CSP returned to the quarterfinals in 2018, defeating Wayne State, 80-70. The Golden Bears have split their most recent quarterfinal games, both against Bemidji State, falling to the Beavers in 2021, 71-70, before blowing them out in 2022, 85-58.
SERIES HISTORY: UMD 25, CSP 22
The Golden Bears and Bulldogs will meet for the 48th time this Saturday, with UMD holding a slight 25-22 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1975-76 season. The programs competed 12 times prior to CSP's move to Division II in 1999-2000. UMD held an advantage in the early matchups 9-3, despite Concordia winning the first two and three of the first four between the 1975-76 and 1977-78 seasons.
Following the Concordia's 69-59 win in 1978, the Bulldogs went on an 11-game series winning streak into CSP's DII-era. After a 59-56 overtime win by Concordia in February, 2001 at Gangelhoff Center, Concordia has nearly evened the series by holding a 18-13 record in the last 31 meetings.
In league play, Concordia is 14-12 against the Bulldogs, who were members of the NSIC from 1999-2004 before joining the now-defunct NCC for the 2004-05 through 2007-08 seasons. Upon returning to the league in 2008-09, Concordia holds a 11-8 advantage.
Head coach Amanda Johnson holds a career 2-5 record against UMD and the Golden Bears are 2-1 against the Bulldogs all-time in the NSIC Tournament, winning their most recent matchup in 2011, 65-56.
LAST MEETING, January 2023: UMD 62, CSP 34
The Bulldogs set the tone right out of the gate, scoring 13 of the game's first 17 points and mounted a quick 17-6 lead. CSP narrowed the gap slightly to 17-11 at the first quarter break. The 11 points would be the most in a quarter for the Bears in the game and their best shooting quarter, going 5-for-12 from the field and making their only shot attempt from behind the arc.
In the second quarter, UMD showed why they were the top ranked NSIC defense this season, holding the Golden Bears to just one made shot from the field on 13 attempts. The Bulldogs limited CSP to just five points, matching the Bears season low against Upper Iowa. Minnesota Duluth closed out the half on a dominant 15-0 run, extending their lead 36-16 at the break.
The stifling defense continued in the second half as the CSP women would score only nine points over the next two frames. During the third quarter, the Bulldogs remained perfect from the foul line, hitting all five in the quarter and their first 14 of the game, finishing 15-for-16. The Golden Bears were just 1-for-3 in the third from the charity stripe, but 7-of-10 for the game. Another 9-0 run for UMD would grind down the quarter before a Jalyn Shaw layup closed things out to send it to the fourth with Concordia down, 51-25.
Neither team would have an effective offensive attack in the fourth quarter, combining to go 6-of-30 from the field and 0-for-7 from downtown. Minnesota Duluth was able to win the quarter with free-throws once again hitting five to Concordia's three and the game would wind down to a 62-34 final.
The 34 points, 23.2 shooting percentage, and 9.1 3-point percentage for the Golden Bears were all season lows as the Bulldogs finished shooting 43.1-percent from the field and 25-percent from three. Turnovers were key for the Golden Bears as their 15 giveaways turned into a 19-5 advantage for UMD on points off turnovers.
The CSP women were outscored 34-22 on points in the paint, thanks largely in part to the play of the 2022-23 NSIC North Player of Year, Brooke Olsen. The grad-senior forward finished as the highest scoring player in the game with 18 points while battling through foul trouble, adding nine rebounds and a block.
On the Concordia side, Ally Gietzel was the high scorer, posting 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting and going 5-of-6 from the foul line. The junior wing picked up three rebounds, a steal, and was the only Concordia player in double digits.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
Minnesota Duluth is the favorite to win the tournament, coming into the game with a 24-3 record and a six game win streak. UMD is currently ranked ninth in the country and second in the Central Region. The three blemishes to their record this season came at the hands of Missouri Southern, Michigan Tech, and Augustana, all of whom sit in the top three of their respective conference standings.
The Bulldogs are coached by 2022-23 NSIC Coach of the Year award winner Mandy Pearson. The Duluth coach has been at the helm for eight years and has turned the program into a powerhouse, winning the NSIC championship three times in that span. Her 2022-23 coach of the year award is her second since becoming head coach for UMD, with the first coming in the 2019-2020 season.
The Bulldog defense has been elite this year, ranking in the top ten nationally and first in the NSIC in scoring defense, giving up just 55.2 points per game. This season they have held opponents under 50 points eight times and under 40 points twice. Their average of 5.1 blocks per game is eighth in the country. Duluth has limited opposing offenses to shooting 36.3-percent from the field, which is lowest of any defense in the NSIC.
On the other end of the floor, UMD has been incredibly efficient at scoring the basketball, shooting 47-percent from the field this season to rank in the top five nationally. They average the 15th fewest turnovers per game in the country (12.9) and are number two in the conference behind the nation's number one team in that category, Northern State.
Much of Minnesota Duluth's success can be credited to their star, Brooke Olson. The fifth year forward has had a storied career with the Bulldogs that includes four consecutive NSIC North Player of the year awards and three NSIC championships. Olson is a three-time WBCA All-American and will most likely be named to the All-American team for a fourth time at the end of this season.
The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native finished the year as the NSIC's all-time leading scorer in regular season conference contests with 1615 total points. She averaged 21.2 points a game overall, a mark that ranks first in the NSIC and 10th in Division II. She moved to second on the NCAA DII all-time scoring list among active players this season with 2270 points. She wrapped up her amazing season by scoring a career-high 40 points in the last regular season game of her career on Feb. 18 against Bemidji State.
