ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear women's basketball team closed out exhibition play with an 88-43 win over St. Catherine on Tuesday night in the Gangelhoff Center. CSP held St. Kate's to 28.3% shooting from the field and senior Mikayla Kanenwisher scored a team-leading 16 points in the victory.
Concordia opened the game on a 17-3 run, scoring 15 unanswered points. The Golden Bears held St. Kate's to 1-7 from the field and forced seven turnovers in those opening seven minutes. CSP outscored the Wildcats 19-7 in the first quarter, with five points from senior forward Lindsey Becher.
CSP then outscored St. Kate's 18-1 in the first six minutes of the second quarter. Sophomore Ashley Schuelke came alive during that stretch scoring eight straight points. She scored all 11 of her total points in that second quarter, and Concordia-St. Paul led 45-16 at the half.
It was business as usual in the third quarter, with the Golden Bears outscoring the Wildcats 27-15, extending the lead to 72-31. Kanenwisher led CSP with eight points in the quarter. Concordia shot 29-55 (52%) in the first three quarters.
The Golden Bears outscored St. Kate's 16-12 in the final quarter. Sophomores Ella Campbell and Kierstin Kriewaldt led CSP scoring five and four points, respectively. Every CSP player got playing time on the court.
Kanenwisher added two assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block to her 16-point total. She started the game shooting 6-6 with four 3-pointers before missing her final shot. Schuelke added a rebound, steal and assist to her totals.
Julia Bengtson and Campbell each scored eight points. Bengtson shot 4-7 and led the team in steals with four and added three assists. Campbell made two 3-pointers with an assist and a steal.
Becher and Lydia Haack each scored seven points. Becher tallied five rebounds, three steals and a block. Haack added three assists and three steals.
Leah Dengerud scored six points shooting 2-4 from behind the arc. Lauren Feddema and Emma Mommsen each scored five points. Mommsen led the Golden Bears in assists with six and she blocked two shots.
Megan Gamble led the team in rebounds with seven and she scored four points. She also added three assists and three steals. Kriewaldt finished with four points and two steals. Sophomore Lauren Wilson scored three points with four rebounds and two assists.
Freshmen Ava Thompson, Ayana Bousum and Cassidy Pitzl each debuted for the Golden Bears in the final quarter. Pitzl hit a 3-pointer with 1:19 left in the game. Thompson scored a point while adding an assist and a steal. Bousum was +9 in her three minutes of action.
The Golden Bears outscored the Wildcats 44-10 off of turnovers, creating 34 turnovers and only having 10 of their own. CSP outscored St. Kate's 17-2 on fast breaks, 40-20 in the paint, 15-12 on second chance and 52-15 from the bench. Concordia finished the game with their largest lead of 45 points.
St. Catherine was led by Lily Peper with 11 points shooting 2-3 from behind the arc. Hattie Fox and Greta Schimnowski scored nine points each. Fox led the Wildcats with 10 rebounds.
Concordia-St. Paul will prepare for regular season action in Warrensburg, Missouri against Missouri Southern and Central Missouri on Nov. 8-9. Both games are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Jerry M. Hughes Athletic Center on Central Missouri's campus.
