ST. PAUL, Minn. - Lauren Wilson posted a double-double and Concordia-St. Paul (14-5, 10-4 NSIC) tied the school record in blocked shots in an 82-65 victory over Minnesota Crookston (9-11, 6-8 NSIC) on Friday. Wilson scored a career-high 31 points with 10 rebounds and the Golden Bears tallied 15 blocks to tie the mark that was set in 2021.
The Golden Bears got off to a hot start in the contest, scoring the first seven points. The highlight of the opening run was a block by junior forward Lindsey Becher which led to a 3-pointer by sophomore Leah Dengerud, forcing Crookston to call the first timeout of the game. The Golden Eagles had three turnovers on the first five possessions.
The Golden Eagles were able to cut the CSP lead to six points with 1:55 remaining in the opening quarter. Concordia-St. Paul responded with a 5-0 run to end the opening period led with a savvy layup by Mikayla Kanenwisher and another 3-pointer from Dengerud. Kanenwisher, Dengerud and Wilson each had six points to contribute to CSP's 20-9 first-quarter lead.
The second quarter was back-and-forth with Wilson shining for the Golden Bears scoring 11 points and tallying three blocks in the quarter. UMC's Emma Miller also came alive with 13 points of her own after being held scoreless in the opening period. CSP extended its lead to 41-26 at the half.
The Golden Bears kept the momentum rolling in the third quarter making seven more shots than the Golden Eagles. The highlight of the quarter came when CSP scored through contact on back-to-back possessions. Wilson tallied an and-1 which was followed by redshirt freshman Emma Mommsen scoring another and-1 on the next possession. Mommsen missed the free throw, but Wilson got the put back on an offensive rebound to extend CSP's lead to 31 points. That was Concordia's largest lead of the game.
The Golden Eagles didn't go away as they started the fourth quarter with a full-court press. This led to a 16-2 run cutting the CSP lead to 15 points. That was the closest the Golden Eagles were able to make the game, as Wilson shut the run down with back-to-back buckets. Dengerud hit key free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Wilson finished with a career-high seven blocks in the contest. She went 11-18 from the field with a team-high five fouls drawn. This was her first career double-double.
Dengerud finished with a career-high 17 points and five rebounds. She made a team-high four 3-pointers and went 5-6 from the free throw line. Kanenwisher tallied 10 points, six assists and a team-high +30 margin on the court. She had 13 total assists this weekend breaking her previous season-high coming into the weekend in both games.
Becher finished with nine points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Junior forward Megan Gamble scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds. Mommsen and Lauren Feddema tallied four points each.
Miller led the Golden Eagles scoring 29 points playing a game-high 35:01 in the contest. She went 11-21 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. She scored 27 of her 29 points in the second and fourth quarters. Janie Tormanen scored 10 points and Natalie Mikrot scored nine points for UCM.
The blocked shots record was previously set on Dec. 17, 2021 with 15 against Southwest Minnesota State. Concordia dominated Crookston in the paint outscoring them 42-18 in the contest and outrebounding them 52-42. The Golden Bears also had eight more assists than the Golden Eagles in the contest.
Both teams were similar in shooting as CSP shot 29-72 (40.3%) from the field compared to 24-69 (34.2%) from UMC. Concordia-St. Paul made one more 3-pointer than Minnesota Crookston.
The Golden Bears remain tied for fourth place with UMary in the NSIC race. The Marauders went 2-0 this weekend with wins over Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls.
Concordia-St. Paul is busy over the next seven days with games on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The Golden Bears are at home against Winona State (5-14, 4-10 NSIC) before a weekend road trip. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. against the Warriors in the Gangelhoff Center.
