ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (11-11, 8-10 NSIC) had their three game win streak snapped on Saturday evening, losing to Southwest Minnesota State (14-9, 11-7 NSIC) 67-59. The win marks the first time since the 2001-02 season that the Mustang women have won a game in the Gangelhoff Center. 

Ally Gietzel scored 20+ for the fifth time in 2023, putting up 21 points with six rebounds, two blocks, two blocks, an assist, and a steal. The junior was 10-of-17 from the field and 1-of-2 from behind the arc.

Jalyn Shaw led the team in rebounds with eight while scoring 10 points, with an assist and a steal. Raegan Alexander contributed eight points, three rebounds and two assists. 

It was back and forth to start the game with five times and the lead changing hands six times as the two teams fought for control. The Mustangs would come out of the quarter on top as senior guard Jenna Borchers would nail a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give SMSU a 19-16 lead. 

Southwest Minnesota State extended their lead in the second quarter, outshooting the Golden Bears from the field 37.5-percent to 26.7 percent and out-scoring them 16-10. The Mustangs would hit another buzzer beater at the halftime break, putting them up 35-26. 

The third quarter started well as Shaw knocked down a 3-pointer and Gietzel put in a floater to cut the deficit to six. SMSU took back the momentum a few minutes later with a 10-4 run to build a 12 point lead, their biggest of the game. Layups from Megan Gamble and Gietzel would cut it to eight before one more late basket for Southwest Minnesota State to push the lead back to double digits, 51-41. 

The Golden Bears started the fourth quarter on fire, going on a 11-2 run to bring them within one point, 53-52. The Bears would shoot just two of eight from the field for the rest of the game, allowing the Mustangs to build their lead back up to eight points to close out the game with the win 67-59. 

The stat-line that told the story of the game were turnovers as CSP gave it away 15 times in the game allowing SMSU to gain an 18-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Golden Bears were good under the basket, out-rebounding the Mustangs 37-30 and out-scoring them in points in the paint 40-34.

The Golden Bears are now one game ahead of Wayne State for the fourth seed in the NSIC South Division and will see the Wildcats next Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. showdown after taking on Augustana on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.