WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The 2024-25 CSP women's basketball (1-0) season started with an exciting 72-69 victory over Missouri Southern (0-3) on Friday afternoon. After the Lions hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, junior guard Lydia Haack hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to secure the Golden Bear victory.
The final two minutes of play featured five lead changes and one tie. Junior guard Leah Dengerud made key plays down the stretch for CSP. She made a field goal after an offensive rebound, hit two key free throws following a steal and assisted on the game-winning shot.
Haack tallied a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds in her Golden Bear debut after she missed last season due to injury. This was the Upper Iowa transfer's sixth-highest-scoring performance of her career and her fourth-career double-double.
CSP started the game slow, trailing 11-3 early. Haack hit a 3-pointer which sparked a 13-2 scoring run with seven points scored by her. After trailing 19-16 later in the quarter, CSP ended it on a 7-0 run highlighted by guard Julia Bengtson making a late 3-pointer to lead 23-19.
The Golden Bears held Missouri Southern scoreless for 6:16 between the first and second quarters, allowing them to take a 10-point lead which was their biggest lead of the day. The Lions kept battling and ended the half on a 5-0 run to trail 39-36 at the break.
The Lions took control in the third quarter, outscoring Concordia 17-8 in the period. The Golden Bears shot 2-11 from the field and 3-13 from the free-throw line in the third quarter to trail by six at the end of it.
Concordia-St. Paul got within a point four separate times in the final quarter, but Missouri Southern kept fending off the Golden Bears. After a 3-pointer by Missouri Southern's Kaitlin Hunnicutt, Ashley Schuelke made her only field goal of the game to cut the lead to two.
A few possessions later, Megan Gamble intercepted a bad pass and got the ball to Haack who hit a 3-pointer. This was CSP's first lead since 2:43 in the third quarter.
Senior Lindsey Becher scored 12 points with two rebounds and a steal after being in foul trouble for most of the game. She was 4-7 from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line after making two key free throws with 1:37 left in the game.
Dengerud scored 11 points with a team-high three steals and two assists. She went 6-6 from the charity stripe. Bengtson scored 11 points with seven rebounds after shooting 3-6 from the field and 2-3 from behind the arc.
Sophomore forward Lauren Wilson tallied seven points after shooting 5-6 from the free-throw line. Schuelke and Gamble each scored two points with Gamble grabbing nine rebounds.
Missouri Southern was led by Hunnicutt with 28 points after she shot 11-12 from the free-throw line and 3-6 from behind the arc. Senior guard Mackenzie Hart scored 12 points with six assists and four steals off the bench.
The Golden Bears had 10 more turnovers than Missouri Southern, which led to being outscored 26-15 on turnovers. Both teams were even in the paint scoring 30 points each and CSP outscored the Lions 15-9 on second-chance points. MSSU's bench outscored CSP's bench 33-4.
There were 11 lead changes and seven ties in the game. CSP shot 23-55 (41.8%) from the field while MSSU shot 24-74 (32.4%). Missouri Southern shot 14-16 (87.5%) from the free throw line compared to 20-32 (62.5%) from Concordia. The Golden Bears outrebounded the Lions 48-37, but both teams were even with 14 offensive rebounds.
Concordia-St. Paul is back in action on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Central Missouri (2-1). The Jennies defeated Henderson State (0-1) 76-49 on Friday and picked up a 66-58 victory against No. 15 Ferris State (1-1) last weekend.
