SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (14-14) fell to #9 Minnesota Duluth (25-3) on Saturday, 82-55 to end their season in the NSIC quarterfinals.The Golden Bears fought hard, but the top-seeded Bulldogs were able to pull away in the second half to move on to the NSIC semifinals and continue their journey towards a third-consecutive NSIC championship.

It was a tight first quarter that featured seven ties and four lead changes. The Golden Bears took their first lead with 6:42 on the clock on a Ally Gietzel pull-up jump shot to break the tie and go ahead 7-5. Concordia forced UMD star forward Brooke Olson onto the bench early with foul trouble, but she was a force at the end of the quarter, scoring the Bulldog's last seven points before the break, giving them a short 17-15 lead. Sarah Kuma would get one more basket for CSP with 36-seconds left to tie it up 17-17 heading into the second quarter. 

Minnesota Duluth opened the second quarter on a 15-6 run that lasted until 2:10 left go in the half. Turnovers started to sting the Bears in the second quarter with CSP giving it away five times in the period and throwing off their offensive rhythm. The Bulldogs were able to get quality shots close to the basket and out-scored CSP 18-5 in points in the paint. A Gietzel 3-pointer and layup from Leah Dengerud would bring Concordia to within seven at the half 36-29.

UMD pushed their lead back to double-digits after an early 6-0 run and started turning up the intensity on the defensive end. A layup and 3-pointer by Jalyn Shaw brought it back to a nine point game with 6:28 to go in the third. Duluth would allow just one more basket from the Golden Bears for the rest of the quarter and closed it out on a 10 point run to go up 61-41. The Bears continued to be loose with the ball, turning it over seven times. 

2022-23 NSIC player of the year Brooke Olson scored seven of the first eight points for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter and capped her night off by converting a three-point play to put the Dogs up 72-47. The fifth-year senior went to the bench with 5:36 left to go after putting on a show for the Sioux Falls crowd. Olson finished with a game-high 28 points while shooting 78.6 percent from the field, and was perfect on 3-pointers (1-for1) and free throws (5-for-5). The 6'2 Rice Lake native also pulled down seven boards and had two blocked shots.

Minnesota Duluth closed out the game on a 10-5 run after Olson came out of the game with a layup from Makayla Johnson and a 3-pointer by Shauna Mell keeping the final margin under 30 points, 82-55. 

Ally Gietzel closed out her season with an amazing performance, leading CSP in scoring with a playoff career-high 24 points. The Second-Team All-NSIC selection shot 55.6-percent from the field (10-of-18), was 1-of-2 from behind the arc, and was 3-for-4 from the foul line. The junior wing had a team-high eight rebounds while adding two assists, a block, and a steal.

As a team the Bulldogs shot above 50 percent from the field in every quarter, and 58.3-percent for the game. The Golden Bears were 19-for-44 from the field (43.2-percent), 4-of-12 from deep (33.3-percent), and were 13-of-18 from the charity stripe. UMD forced 22 Concordia turnovers which led to a 25-14 advantage for the Dogs in points off turnovers. Duluth, led by Olson, was dominant getting to the basket and putting up quality shots to outscore CSP 62-26 in points in the paint. 

Minnesota Duluth moves on to the semifinals and will take on the winner of Sunday's 11:00 a.m. matchup between Augustana and Northern State.