ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team starts their season this weekend against Missouri Southern (0-2) and Central Missouri (1-1). The Golden Bears are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. tip-offs on Friday and Saturday in Warrensburg, Missouri.
Last season, CSP went 20-8 (16-6 NSIC) for their first 20-win season since 2018-19. Concordia finished tied for second place last season in the conference and lost to Minnesota Duluth in the NSIC quarterfinals. The Golden Bears return 12 players from last year's team.
"The biggest thing for us this offseason was getting everyone healthy and staying healthy," said head coach Amanda Johnson, who enters her 10th season with the Golden Bears. "We return a ton of girls and add a few in the mix back from injury."
CONFERENCE OUTLOOK
The Golden Bears were picked third out of 15 teams in the NSIC preseason coaches poll. Concordia-St. Paul received 162 points in the poll and was the highest-ranked team without a first-place vote.
"I like where we sit right now at No. 3," Johnson said. "Ideally, I would love to win the conference tournament and make it to the NCAA tournament. I think with this group that is absolutely possible, especially if we stay healthy."
The defending NCAA Champions Minnesota State were picked first in the poll with 194 points and 12 first-place votes. Northern State was second with 184 points and three first-place votes. Madelyn Bragg of Northern State was picked as the NSIC preseason player of the year.
"Northern State had a great team last year and they didn't lose anyone," Johnson said. "And then they added Michaela Jewett, who was Augustana's leading scorer last year."
Last season, Minnesota State won the NSIC regular season conference title with a 20-2 conference record. CSP finished in a three-way tie for second place with UMary and Northern State, earning first-round byes in the NSIC Tournament. Minnesota State won the conference tournament beating UMary 89-74 in the final.
"Minnesota State lost a few players like Joey Batt, who was a stud," Johnson said. "I definitely think they're tough and they are always going to be tough."
MEET THE BEARS: RETURNERS
Concordia-St. Paul returns four out of five starters from last year's team, led by senior center Lindsey Becher. She averaged 13.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks last season. Becher has the second-most blocks in a Golden Bear career.
Junior guard Lydia Haack also returns after missing last season due to injury. Haack was a First Team All-NSIC selection for Upper Iowa in 2022-23 after averaging 16.9 points per game. She scored exactly 1,000 points in her career for the Peacocks.
"Lydia has been fitting in great with the roster," Johnson said. "Her and Lindsey played together prior in AAU. So the dynamic now that they're playing together again has been fun."
Lauren Wilson is back for her sophomore season after a breakout freshman campaign. She averaged 12.8 points last season with a career-high 31 points against Minnesota Crookston. She also earned NSIC Player of the Week honors after her performances against Maryville and Truman State.
"Her IQ and what we saw from her last year as a redshirt freshman has helped her earn a prominent role on this team," Johnson said. "We like what she brings to our team and she's a gamer. Last year she made some clutch plays for us."
Leah Dengerud returns after being one of CSP's top defenders last season. The junior guard led the Golden Bears in steals averaging 1.6 per game. Megan Gamble starts her senior season after averaging 4.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last season. Ashley Schuelke will see an expanded role during her sophomore campaign this season. Junior guard Lauren Feddema is also back after averaging three points per game last season.
Following Haack's return, senior point guard Mikayla Kanenwisher will become one of CSP's top players on the bench. Kanenwisher led the Golden Bears in assists per game last season averaging 3.2.
"Mik played a ton of minutes for us last year and actually as a JUCO transfer, I was surprised by her," Johnson said. "I did not expect her to be as much of a gamer as she was last year. She's a grinder. She's kind of a little bit of our grit. It's just nice to know that we have a really, really good point guard and one of the top backup point guards in the conference."
In the frontcourt, CSP returns Emma Mommsen and Raegan Alexander. Alexander missed last season due to injury, but hopes to return to action later this season. Mommsen may see an expanded role this season in her sophomore year.
"Emma's been doing awesome, she's just a strong post-player," Johnson said "I think for her, she's always known she's been Lindsey's backup. Now it comes to a point where it's Lindsey's last year and for the next two years now it's your role. She's strong and she hustles and is all over the floor."
Sophomores Ella Campbell and Kierstin Kriewaldt are both back for their sophomore seasons.
"Those two have been doing a great job accepting their roles," Johnson said. "When they get in there they are gonna hit some big threes for us. They have been some of our best team players and are some of the loudest players on the floor."
MEET THE BEARS: TRANSFERS
The Golden Bears added Julia Bengtson from Eastern Illinois to the roster this season. The senior guard averaged 4.1 points per game in her career on the Division I team. Her season-best PPG average was seven points during the 2021-22 season.
"She is no question one of the top leaders on this team," Johnson said. "If she would've been here last year she would've been a captain because she is vocal. She's a great teammate. She says the right things. She's gonna work her butt off."
Bengtson will bring a new energy to the Golden Bears in her starting role.
"She's definitely been our floor general," Johnson said. "Julia is always communicating and she brings energy in practice. I've been dying to have a player who is as communicative on the court as she is."
MEET THE BEARS: FRESHMEN
CSP added three freshmen to the team this season in forward Ayana Bousum, guard Ava Thompson and guard Cassidy Pitzl. Bousum and Thompson will redshirt this season while Pitzl will not.
Bousum was a three-time all-conference selection at Marshfield High School in Wisconsin. She averaged 12 points per game. Pitzl averaged 17.3 points per game and was a two-time all-conference selection at Forest Lake Area High School. Thompson competed for the Rosemount High School Irish.
MEET THE BEARS: COACHES
Johnson is 141-95 in her nine-year career coaching the Golden Bears. She picked up her 100th NSIC victory last season, as she now has a 106-75 NSIC record in her career.
There are three new coaches on the staff this season. Patrick Swenson joins as an assistant coach, Maggie Negaard joins as a graduate assistant and Gabi Haack joins as a part-time assistant.
"We do have a new staff so I think it's kind of fun watching them see the team from a different perspective than myself," Johnson said. "It's fun having three new coaches that tell me their thoughts on the players."
Swenson joins after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Jamestown for the past two seasons. He served as the head assistant of the varsity team and the head coach of the JV team.
"He's been great and been doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes operations," Johnson said. "He can do the scouting reports. He knows how to clip film. He knows what it takes to organize team meals."
Swenson served as a manager of the Minnesota men's basketball team in 2017 then switched over to the women's basketball team under Lindsey Whalen from 2018-21. He graduated from there with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Developmental Psychology in 2021
"He keeps me very organized, even if it's just a little form we have to do," Johnson said. "He's been awesome at getting recruits on campus and reaching out to them. I've never had so many visits in a fall. It's been nice to have a full-time assistant who works hard and gets things done."
Negaard played at St. Thomas and Drake during her college career from 2018-23. During her senior season with the Tommies, Negaard averaged 12.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Negaard also earned All-Summit Second Team honors.
"She took a year off and was teaching and decided that she missed basketball and wanted to get back into it," Johnson said. "She brings such an on-court dynamic voice with her basketball IQ. I've loved her input on the offensive side of the ball."
Haack played for former CSP coach Paul Fessler at Bradley from 2017-22. She accumulated 1,811 points and is the all-time leader in the Missouri Valley Conference in 3-point field goals with 314 in her career.
"I kind of reached out and was like 'Hey, we have a part-time role. I think what you can bring as a former Division I player to this team could be beneficial'" Johnson said. "She's very good with strength and conditioning and nutrition."
This new coaching staff allows Johnson to look over the team as a whole during practice.
"Maggie and Gabi are with the guards and Patrick works with the posts," Johnson said. "So it's nice that I can go back and forth and work with each group."
RECORD WATCH
Becher joined the 1,000-point club last season and is 25th all-time in Golden Bear history with 1,068 points. She totaled a team-high 380 points last season. If she scores that many points again this season, it would put her in seventh all-time and 21 points behind fourth.
Becher's 227 career blocked shots is second all-time in school history. She sits behind Kionda Nicks from 2012-16 with 264 blocked shots. Becher blocked 67 shots last season.
Dengerud is 15th all-time in career free throw percentage at 77.2% and 11th in minutes average at 29.5 per game. Kanenwisher is 10th in minutes average with 29.8 per game.
Wilson is 16th in field goal percentage shooting 48.7%. She scored 359 points during her freshman campaign last season. Four years of that scoring pace would put her at 1,436 points, which would be seventh in program history.
EXHIBITION RECAP
The Golden Bears picked up a pair of wins in exhibition play against Dakota State and St. Catherine. CSP defeated NAIA No. 6 Dakota State 95-92 in overtime on Oct. 25.
Trailing 81-79 with seven seconds left, Haack drove the length of the floor and made a layup with one second left to tie the game. The junior guard scored eight points in overtime, leading CSP to the win.
Haack led the team in the game with 29 points, 11 assists, eight steals and six rebounds. Becher scored 22 points with 13 rebounds and six blocks. Bengtson and Wilson each scored 13 points and Schuelke added 10.
"We could score, but we didn't play a lot of defense," Johnson said. "It was just fun for us back with the jerseys on, but we learned that we have to play better defense and adjust a few things. So we went into St. Kate's focusing on our defense."
Concordia held St. Kate's to 28.3% shooting in an 88-43 victory over the Wildcats. Kanenwisher led the Golden Bears with 16 points shooting 6-7 from the field. Schuelke scored 11 points, all in the second quarter. Every CSP player that suited up saw action in the game.
"The exhibitions are huge for that because we get to be on the court for the fans with the lights on and get those jitters out," Johnson said. "I loved playing those to learn, grow and get ready for our first game."
SCHEDULE PREVIEW
The Golden Bears face five Missouri teams in nonconference play after hosting Truman State, Maryville and Missouri Western in the Gangelhoff Center. NSIC play starts on Nov. 26 against Winona State and CSP's final nonconference game is against Michigan Tech on Nov. 30.
"I tried to create a tough strength of schedule for this year," Johnson said. "Truman and Maryville are good Division II teams. Missouri Western has a new coach and their coming up here, which doesn't happen often. Then we go to Michigan Tech too and they always have a good program. It's going to be a tough November, but we're up for the challenge and we want that."
Senior day for the Golden Bears is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15 against MSU Moorhead. The first round of the NSIC tournament starts on Feb. 26. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will be held from March 1-4 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
This season's Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight takes place at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from March 24-28.
MISSOURI SOUTHERN PREVIEW
This is the first meeting ever between the Golden Bears and the Lions. The Lions started their season this past weekend, losing to Texas Woman's University 72-67 and Ashland (Ohio) 74-44.
Last season, Missouri Southern finished 20-9 with a 16-6 record in the MIAA, earning the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. Pittsburg State defeated the Lions in the first round of the MIAA Tournament, 73-65.
The Lions' top scorer from 2023-24, Kryslyn Jones, graduated after averaging 12.5 points per game. Center Ryan Franklin returns for her sophomore season after averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last season.
Senior guard Kaitlin Hunnicutt enters her senior season after averaging 10.8 points per game and earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention last season. Senior guard Mia Topping returns after averaging a team-high 2.5 assists last season.
Head coach Ronnie Ressel enters his ninth season at the helm for the Lions. He has a 129-105 record as a head coach. Ressel is in his 21st season in the athletic department after serving as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's programs.
CENTRAL MISSOURI PREVIEW
Series History: CSP 2, Central Missouri 0
The Golden Bears have played the Jennies twice in program history, winning both games. The Golden Bears won the first matchup between the schools in the 2014 Central Region Semifinals. Anika Whiting led CSP in that game with 32 points and CSP went on to win the region that season.
The Jennies went 21-8 last season with a 15-7 MIAA conference record, earning the sixth seed at the conference tournament. Their season ended with a 65-63 loss to Fort Hays State in the opening round.
This season, the Jennies faced some ranked competition in their opening weekend this past Saturday and Sunday. Central Missouri lost to No. 22 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 68-65, but defeated No. 15 Ferris State (Mich.), 66-58.
Central Missouri lost both of their leading scorers to the transfer portal. Brooke Litrell, who averaged 20.3 ppg, transferred to Creighton, and Olivia Nelson, who averaged 14.7 ppg, transferred to Idaho.
The Jennies' top returner is senior guard Lauren Frost after averaging 6.8 points per game last season. She was second on the team in assists averaging 3.9 per game. Senior guard Allie Clevenger also returns after averaging 5.6 points per game last season.
Head coach Dave Slifer enters his 21st season with Central Missouri. Slifer is the second-winningest active head coach in Division II and ranks in the top 10 among all three divisions with his 805 career victories in his 35 years as a head coach. He has a 421-179 career record at Central Missouri.
"He's just a stud coach there, Dave is awesome," Johnson said. "They have a great program. He plays about eight girls and the starters get about 32 minutes. It's always tough playing in Warrensburg against the Jennies."
