ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul (12-1, 6-1 NSIC) women's basketball team closed out 2024 strong with an emphatic 82-38 victory over Minnesota Duluth (4-8, 2-5 NSIC) on Saturday. The Golden Bears outscored the Bulldogs 28-6 in the first quarter, leading to a 44-point margin of victory for the largest this season. 

Five different Golden Bears reached double digits in scoring. Ashley Schuelke led the team with a season-high 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half. She shot 7-10 from the field and 4-6 from behind the arc, tying her most 3-pointers in a game this season. 

Lydia Haack was very close to a triple-double with 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. The junior guard accounted for 35 of CSP's 82 points via scoring and assists. 

Lindsey Becher scored 12 points with six rebounds and two blocks. 10 of her 12 points came in the opening quarter of play. Leah Dengerud added 13 points shooting 3-5 from behind the arc. Lauren Wilson scored 11 points after finishing perfect on 3-pointers shooting 3-3. 

The Golden Bears started the game on an 18-3 run, which included a 14-0 run after CSP led 4-3 early. After Minnesota Duluth made a 3-pointer, the Golden Bears ended the quarter on another 10-0 run. CSP's starters played all 10 minutes of the first quarter with Becher scoring 10 points, Haack scoring nine points and Julia Bengtson scoring seven points. 

The 22-point first-quarter advantage tied CSP's largest margin in a quarter this season. CSP started with a 32-10 opening quarter vs. Winona State on Nov. 26. This was the second-lowest points allowed in a quarter this season for the Golden Bears, one point behind Central Missouri's five points in the first quarter of the second game of the season. 

CSP then outscored UMD 16-10 in the second quarter, finishing the half with a 44-16 lead. Wilson led the Golden Bears with five points in the quarter and Dengerud hit a 3-pointer. 

The 28-point halftime advantage was the second-highest of the season, falling behind the 54-20 opening margin vs. Winona State. The 16 points was the lowest amount Concordia has allowed in a half this season. 

The Golden Bears found their rhythm again in the third quarter. After a 6-0 run by Duluth, CSP went on a 16-0 run highlighted by three 3-pointers by Schuelke and a 3-pointer by Dengerud. Each of those 3-pointers came off of Haack assists. CSP held UMD to 11 points in the final quarter, sealing the victory. 

Bengtson fell just short of double digits with nine points finishing a perfect 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line. Senior Megan Gamble grabbed a team-high nine rebounds with two points. 

Lauren Feddema and Mikayla Kanenwisher each had a team-high three steals. Both of them also scored two points. Emma Mommsen also added two points and grabbed four rebounds. 

CSP finished the game shooting 31-63 (49.2%) from the field and 12-21 (57.1%) from behind the arc. The 49.2% from the field was Concordia's third-highest shooting percentage this season. 57.1% was CSP's highest 3-point percentage this season and the 12 3-pointers are the team's most in a game. Concordia also finished a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line. 

The 38 points allowed was CSP's lowest of the season. Minnesota Duluth finished the game shooting 15-62 (24.2%) from the field, which was Concordia's lowest allowed this season. CSP had 12 steals in the game leading to 19 points off of turnovers. 

Concordia outscored Duluth 38-16 in the paint and outrebounded the Bulldogs 44-34. CSP's bench outscored UMD's bench 35-16. The Golden Bears turned the ball over 10 times with only three of them caused by Minnesota Duluth steals. Concordia-St. Paul's largest lead of the game was 50 points at 77-27. 

Lexi Karge and Grace Counts led the Bulldogs scoring 10 points each. Johanna Miller grabbed a team-high seven rebounds scoring six points. Myra Moorjani had a team-high four assists. 

The Golden Bears are back in action after the new year on the road against MSU Moorhead (6-6, 4-2 NSIC) on Jan. 3 at 5:30 p.m. and Northern State (S.D.) (7-5, 4-2 NSIC) on Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. On Saturday, the Dragons fell to Minnesota Crookston, 64-63, and Northern State defeated Minot State, 78-52.