ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concorda-St. Paul women's basketball team (11-11, 8-10 NSIC) are coming down the stretch and have two pivotal games this weekend as the playoff picture starts to solidify. The Golden Bears travel to South Dakota on Friday to take on the Augustana Vikings (21-3, 15-3 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m. before heading down to Wayne State to take on the Wildcats (11-11, 7-11 NSIC) on Saturday evening at 5:30 p.m.

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NSIC SOUTH DIVISION PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Concordia women hold the fourth seed in the South Division with four games left to play. Wayne State is one game back in fifth place and take on #14 Minnesota State on Friday night ahead of their matchup with CSP. 

Augustana is tied with MSU at the top of the division with 15-3 conference records and their game on Saturday could set up the winner as the number one seed in the South. The Mavericks were victorious against the Vikings in their prior meeting 84-69.

Southwest Minnesota State is comfortably in the third seed with an 11-7 conference record, four games behind Augie and MSU, and three games ahead of CSP. 

Upper Iowa, Winona State, and Sioux Falls are all fighting for the final playoff spot in the South Division with UIU currently as the sixth seed after winning three of their last four.

SERIES HISTORY: AUGIE 20, CSP 16
The Golden Bears and Vikings enter their 37th meeting dating back to 1994-95 with the Vikings leading the series 20-16, although the Golden Bears have won three of the last five including both matchups in 2021-22. 
Since Augustana joined the NSIC in 2008-09, the series is close to .500 with Augie holding a 15-14 edge while the margin in NSIC contests is similar with Augustana leading 13-12.

The biggest split is in home/away, where Concordia is 10-6 against the Vikings at Gangelhoff Center and 4-11 at Augustana where CSP secured a 73-71 win early in the 2021-22 season.
 
Since Amanda Johnson was named head coach in January of 2016, Concordia is 6-8 overall and 3-4 against the Vikings at the Sanford Pentagon.

LAST MEETING, DECEMBER 10: Augie 84, CSP 52
Concordia got off to a promising start, taking an 8-2 lead sparked by a pair of 3-point baskets from Bears guard Sarah Kuma. Augusta would respond with their own 8-3 run before trading free throws with CSP to tie it up at 15-15. 

Alyssa Daugherty was on fire in the second quarter, scoring 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. She started the scoring for CSP in the quarter sparking a 9-2 run that she capped off with a Jadyn Hanson assisted 3-pointer to put the Bears up 24-20. 

The lead would be short lived as the Vikings put together a 14-5 run to take back the lead permanently. A Raegan Alexander driving layup brought the Golden Bears within three 34-31 before Duffy connected from behind the arc with five seconds left to make the halftime score 37-31. 
 
A three-point play by Megan Gamble and a pull-up jumper by Ally Gietzel brought the Bears to within one point with 7:19 left in the quarter. From there the game started to slip away fast. The Golden Bears offense hit a major cold streak, making just two shots from the field over the next nine minutes as they watched the Vikings go on a 28-6 run to go up 65-42 with 7:44 left in the game. 

After one last 9-2 run by Concordia, fueled by Becher and Gietzel, Augustana closed out the game with a 17-1 run over the final five minutes to take the victory 84-52. 

CSP did not shoot incredibly efficiently throughout the contest, shooting 32.2 percent (19-59) from the floor, 31.3 percent (5-16) from three, and 69.2% (9-13) from the free-throw line. Their opponents had better percentages in two of the three categories, going 45.8 percent (33-72) from the floor, 30.0 percent (6-20) from three, and 80.0% from the line.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Augustana enters the game on a nine game win-streak including a 53-51 last second win over #10 Minnesota Duluth. They are led by Head Coach Dave Krauth who has been with Augustana for 34 years and has orchestrated winning seasons in all except one. 

The Vikings are in the top 25 in the country in several statistical categories including: field goal percentage (23rd, 44.7-percent), free throw percentage (18th, 77.2-percent), defensive rebounds per game (22nd, 29.2), scoring offense (20th, 75.2), and scoring margin (19th, 14.6). 

Augie players have won the last four NSIC Player of the Week Awards, including three by star forward and their player to watch: Aislinn Duffy. The senior has amassed 10 double-doubles this season and one triple-double. She has two 30+ point games, including the Vikings most recent game against Upper Iowa where the NSIC 2022-23 preseason player of year scored 35 points with nine rebounds, three steals and a block.

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 25, WAYNE STATE 25
The Golden Bears and Wildcats will meet for the 51st time since the 1999-00 season with the series all tied up at 25 apiece after Wayne State's 62-53 win at Gangelhoff Center in December. 

The series has been even through the last 20 matchups with each team winning ten games with the three games being the longest win streak for either team during that stretch. 

Head coach Amanda Johnson is 7-7 against the Wildcats dating back to January of 2016 and is 4-3 at WSC's Rice Auditorium.

LAST MEETING, DECEMBER 9: WSC 62, CSP 53
Turnovers plagued the Golden Bears throughout the game and they started early, allowing the Wildcats to jump out to a 15-5 lead. CSP was able to settle down during the final few minutes of the quarter with an Ally Gietzel turnaround jumper starting a Concordia 8-2 run to close out the quarter with Wayne State leading 17-13.

The second quarter was tight as both teams struggled to get shots to fall. The Golden Bears held WSC to just 27.8 percent shooting (5-18), but were only able to put up just 10 shots in the quarter converting four into points. The Bears were scoreless from behind the arc in the first half on six attempts, but hit all four of their shots from the foul line to outscore the Wildcats in the quarter 12-11 and head to the locker room down 28-25. 

The start of the second half mirrored the beginning of the game, with the third quarter starting with a big run by Wayne State, with the Wildcats out-scoring the Bears 10-0 through the first 3.5 minutes of the quarter. After an 0-for-5 start for Concordia, a driving layup by junior forward Jalyn Shaw was able to get CSP on the board. 

A three pointer by Wayne State's Logan Hughes with 3:17 left in the quarter put WSC up 47-33 and gave the Wildcats a 14 point lead, their largest of the game. Hughes finished as Wayne State's leading scorer, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-13 from the field (69.2 percent) and an impressive 4-of-5 from behind the arc. 

The fourth quarter opened with the Golden Bears down 47-38. A short 6-2 run by CSP cut the lead to five, but the comeback would be short lived as the Wildcats answered with a 11-4 run of their own to put the game out of reach. Free throws and a Jadyn Hanson 3-pointer at the buzzer would bring the final deficit to nine as Wayne State took the win 62-53.

Junior forward Ally Gietzel recorded her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career, scoring sixteen to go along with 10 rebounds. She also finished with three assists, a block, and a steal.

The Golden Bears outrebounded WSC 49-30 and edged them in points in the paint 26-24. Turnovers sunk the Concordia women as they finished with 24 giveaways compared to just 15 for Wayne State. The Wildcats also had a major shooting advantage in the game, going 26-for-55 from the field (40 percent) and were more efficient from three point range, hitting 44 percent of their shots (8-18). 

ABOUT THE WILDCATS 
Wayne State has had two very different halves to their season, starting off 9-2, before going 2-9 over the last 11 games. The Wildcats put an end to a four game losing streak last Saturday, defeating Winona State 60-56. 

WSC has used their aggressive style of defense and 3-point shooting to find success this season. The WIldcats are number two in the conference in turnovers forced per game (21.9, 21st in Division II), turnover margin (4.1), steals (11.5, 22nd in Division II), and number three in the NSIC in made 3-pointers per game (7.6). 

The player to watch for Wayne State is Lauren Zacharias. The senior point guard is eighth in the NSIC in points per game (15.3), fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.29), and sixth in steals (46). Zacharias' best game this season came against Upper Iowa in a Wildcats 77-70 overtime win when she scored 32 points while going 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-for-3 from deep and knocked down all 13 of her shots from the foul line, adding seven rebounds, five steals and seven rebounds.