SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Eastern Illinois transfer Julia Bengtson erupted for a career-high 28 points in No. 19 Concordia-St. Paul's (8-0, 2-0 NSIC) Friday night NSIC victory against Sioux Falls (5-4, 1-1 NSIC). CSP has now won eight straight games against the Cougars after the 79-63 victory.
Trailing 15-11 late in the first quarter, Bengtson was fouled with 29 seconds left. After making a free throw for her first point of the game, the senior guard then hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game after the opening period, 15-15.
She kept that momentum rolling in the second quarter, scoring CSP's first five points. In the middle of the quarter, the Golden Bears went on a 9-0 run behind five points from Bengtson and four points from sophomore center Emma Mommsen. This gave Concordia a 34-22 advantage.
Bengtson scored 12 points in the second period playing all 10 minutes. The Cougars didn't quite go away as they ended the first half on a 5-0 run after a 3-pointer and a buzzer-beating layup to trail 40-33 at the break.
The Golden Bears didn't let that late first-half run deter them as they went on a 9-0 run to start the second half. Senior center Lindsey Becher got to work right away with the first four points. After that, Bengtson followed with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer, extending the lead to 49-33.
The third quarter ended up being CSP's best of the night, outscoring Sioux Falls 30-18. Bengtson scored 10 points shooting 3-5 from the field while Becher scored eight points shooting 4-6 in the quarter. Concordia held on in the fourth quarter to get the 16-point victory.
Bengtson's career-high 28 points beat her previous high of 16 points playing for Eastern Illinois in 2022 against Murray State. Her previous highest point total this season was in the opener against Missouri Southern where she scored 11. She finished the night shooting 9-14 from the field while grabbing five rebounds and tying for a team-high two steals.
Becher scored 14 points with a team-high 10 rebounds marking back-to-back double-doubles for the senior. She scored 16 points with 15 rebounds last weekend vs. Michigan Tech. This is her third double-double of the season and 11th of her career.
Senior guard Lydia Haack totaled 11 points with eight rebounds. She tied for a team-high four assists and two steals. Senior forward Megan Gamble tied Haack's team-high four assists while grabbing four rebounds.
Ashley Schuelke scored eight points, six of which came in the third quarter. Senior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher added seven points shooting 2-2 from the field. Mommsen tallied six points with three assists and two steals.
Leah Dengerud added three points with four rebounds and three assists. Lauren Wilson scored two points with five rebounds and three assists.
Sioux Falls was led by Kami Wadsworth scoring 19 points with six rebounds. She drew seven fouls in the game and went 7-9 from the charity stripe. Megan Fannin added 10 points, Anna Vaaler scored nine and Alexis Rose tallied eight.
The Golden Bears shot 27-64 (42.2%) from the field which included shooting 19-38 (50%) in the second and third quarters. CSP shot 9-27 (33.3%) from behind the arc. Sioux Falls finished the game shooting 24-62 (38.7%) from the field and 7-26 (26.9%) from behind the arc.
Both teams were even in the paint scoring 28 points each. Concordia outscored Sioux Falls 19-8 off of turnovers and 15-2 on second-chance points. The Golden Bears outrebounded the Cougars 43-34 and had 11 turnovers compared to 15 for USF.
Concordia-St. Paul returns to action on Saturday in Marshall against Southwest Minnesota State (8-0, 2-0 NSIC) for a matchup between the conference's last two undefeated teams. The Mustangs defeated Minnesota Duluth 82-56 on Friday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
