ST. PAUL, Minn. - The No. 25 Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (5-0) starts NSIC play against Winona State (4-1) in the Gangelhoff Center on Tuesday night. The Golden Bears and Warriors are set to tip off at 5:30 p.m.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, CSP will travel to Houghton, Michigan to play the Michigan Tech Huskies (2-4) to wrap up non-conference play. Tip-off for that contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30, in SDC Gymnasium.
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and bring their QR code to the gates to skip the line! Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service while all students, faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets, and tickets can still be purchased with a credit card at the gate.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and supported by BlueFrame Technology.
Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
All home games will feature the play-by-play broadcasting provided by Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. The St. Paul, Minnesota native studied broadcasting at Fordham University (N.Y.) where he was the voice of the Rams' football and basketball teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears picked up their fifth win of the season on Wednesday, Nov. 20 against Missouri Western (3-3). Junior guard Lydia Haack scored 21 points in CSP's 77-60 victory. The Golden Bears got an early lead and never trailed due to outscoring the Griffons 32-4 in the paint in the first half.
Senior center Lindsey Becher was a big part of that first-half performance in the paint. She finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Senior forward Megan Gamble shot 4-4 from the field to score nine points while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
Mikayla Kanenwisher added nine points off the bench with a team-high four assists and three steals. Lauren Wilson and Julia Bengtson each scored five points, with Bengtson having a +31 +/-. Leah Dengerud added four points and six rebounds.
The Golden Bears held the Griffons to 18-57 (31.6%) shooting from the field. This was the lowest shooting percentage CSP has allowed so far this season. In contrast, Concordia shot 30-67 (44.8%) from the field and 12-15 (80%) from the free-throw line.
SEASON LEADERS
Haack leads CSP in points per game and assists per game. She is averaging 18.6 points and 4.4 assists. She ranks seventh in the conference in ppg and fourth in the conference in assists per game. She is 29th in the nation in total assists.
Becher is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Her 2.4 blocks per game is second in the NSIC and 12th in the nation. She's made 13-14 (92.9%) free throws this season which is the second highest free-throw percentage in the NSIC.
Dengerud is averaging 10.6 points per game with a team-high 2.2 steals per game. She's also adding 2.4 assists per game and is second in the NSIC in steals per game. Gamble is the team rebounding leader averaging 9.6 per game, which leads the NSIC and is 32nd in the nation.
WINONA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: CSP 40, WSU 21
CSP is currently on a two-game win streak against the Warriors after winning both matchups last season. The Golden Bears are 8-2 in the last 10 matchups and 10-2 in the last 12.
The Golden Bears own the longest win streak in the series at 12 games from 2000-06. CSP also won 19 of 20 games from 2000-11. Winona State's longest win streak is five games from 2014-16.
Concordia is 19-7 all-time at home against the Warriors at 34-14 all-time in conference play.
LAST MEETING WITH THE WARRIORS
The Golden Bears defeated Winona State by a combined three points last season. CSP won the first matchup on Nov. 21, 2023, by a score of 53-52 after Ally Gietzel made a game-winning buzzer-beater from the left elbow.
Gietzel led the team with 21 points, 13 of which came at the free-throw line. She also added eight rebounds. Becher finished with 18 points and nine rebounds shooting 8-16 from the field. Dengerud added six points.
In the second matchup of the season on Jan. 30, Becher scored 23 points in CSP's 59-57 victory. Becher hit the go-ahead free throws with 1.4 seconds left to give the Golden Bears the win.
Becher shot 9-15 from the field and added six rebounds. Wilson had a clutch block down the stretch and finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Dengerud scored 14 points and Gamble grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Warriors were led by Olivia Gamoke with 13 points and Emma Carpenter with 11 points. Vivica Bretton and Hailey Markworth each added seven points. Ava Sergio was the leading rebounder with seven.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State is 4-1 this season with their lone loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State, 75-66, in the season opener. The Warriors have picked up victories against Southeastern Oklahoma State, Maryville (Mo.), Truman State (Mo.) and Upper Iowa. They won by two points against Maryville and six points against Truman State.
Gamoke averages 17.8 points per game for Winona during her senior season while shooting 48.3% from the field. She is sixth in the NSIC in scoring.
Markworth returns for her junior campaign averaging 12.4 points per game shooting 51.9% from the field. Senior Mattie Schimenz is averaging 12.6 points per game after missing time last season due to injury.
Bretton leads the team in rebounds per game averaging 6.4 and is the fourth-leading scorer with 6.6 points per game. Schimenz and Bretton lead the team in assists averaging 2.6 per game.
Last season, the Warriors finished 10-18 with a 9-13 NSIC record. Their season ended with a first-round NSIC tournament loss to MSU Moorhead. This season, the Warriors were picked 10th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Winona State is averaging 68.2 points per game while holding their opponents to 64.2. They've shot 44% from the field and 36% on 3-pointers this season. The Warriors have a +2.8 rebounding margin.
Ana Wurtz is the head coach for Winona State in her fourth season at the helm of the program after serving as an interim coach in the 2021-22 season. She's had a 25-36 record as the full-time head coach the past three seasons.
MICHIGAN TECH SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: CSP 5, MTU 8
The Golden Bears have won five games all-time against the Huskies, but won the most recent matchup last season. Michigan Tech won four straight games against the Golden Bears from 2011-14. CSP is 1-5 all-time in Houghton, Michigan with the lone victory coming in 2019.
LAST MEETING WITH THE HUSKIES
CSP won last season's matchup 71-62 to finish 4-1 in nonconference play. Michigan Tech got out to an early 36-22 lead in the second quarter, but Concordia responded with a 14-2 run to end the half, trailing 38-36 at the break.
The Golden Bears started the second half on a 6-2 run to extend it to 20-4 and give them their first lead of the game. Leading 52-51 later in the third quarter, Wilson hit a 3-pointer which sparked a 9-2 CSP run. Leading 65-62 late in the game, Gietzel made six straight free throws to secure the win.
Dengerud and Gietzel each scored 15 points as Dengerud shot 3-6 from behind the arc. This was Dengerud's second-highest point total of the season last year. Wilson scored 13 points and Becher added 12 with three blocks.
Michigan Tech was led by Isabella Lenz with 15 points. Katelyn Meister scored 14 points with a team-high eight rebounds. Sara Dax added 12 points.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES
Michigan Tech has a 2-4 record this season and will be on a three-game losing streak to NSIC competition before the game against the Golden Bears. The Huskies lost to Minnesota Crookston on Nov. 16 before losing to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth this past weekend.
The Huskies lost their opener to Lewis (Ill.) on Nov. 8, 68-57. After that, they won two straight games against Thomas More (Ken.) and Bemidji State. Michigan Tech has six NSIC teams on their non-conference schedule as they play Winona State on Sunday after the contest with CSP.
Last season, Michigan Tech finished 15-12 with an 11-7 GLIAC record. The Huskies lost in the first round of the GLIAC tournament to Parkside (Wis.). This season, Michigan Tech was picked fifth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Lenz returns for her senior season as the leading scorer of the Huskies averaging 15.5 points per game. She adds three rebounds per game and two assists per game to her totals.
Freshman guard Kendall Standfest has emerged for the Huskies this season and is averaging 14.2 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounds per game averaging 7.5.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Wypych is averaging 11 points per game. Senior forward Janie Tormanen averages 9.8 points per game with 6.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Dani Nuest is averaging 8.2 points per game.
The Huskies are averaging 68.5 points per game while giving up 69.5. They're shooting 45% from the field and 36% from behind the arc. They've been outrebounded by a margin of -6.7 through six games.
Head coach Sam Clayton is in her seventh season leading the Huskies with a 97-49 career record. She helped lead the program to a National Championship as a player in 2010-11.
