ST. PAUL, Minn. - Lindsey Becher scored her 1,000th career point with a season-high 28-point performance in Concordia-St. Paul's (17-7, 13-6 NSIC) 76-75 loss to Southwest Minnesota State (15-9, 13-5 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon. This was the second one-possession loss for the Golden Bears this season against the Mustangs, as they lost 64-62 on Dec. 8, 2023.
Becher became the 29th member of Concordia-St. Paul's 1,000-point club. After tonight's performance, she is 28th all-time in program history.
With the Golden Bears leading 67-62 with 4:18 left in the game, the Mustangs used shooting to dwindle the lead. The Mustangs hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions to tie the game at 71-71 with 2:41 left in the contest.
Becher scored on the next two possessions, but both times it was followed by responses by the Mustangs. After an offensive foul by Concordia, SMSU guard Bri Stoltzman drew a foul with 43.1 seconds left. Stoltzman missed the first free throw, but converted on the second.
On the following CSP possession, Becher was stripped going to the hoop. The Golden Bears then stopped SMSU after a missed layup on a backdoor cut. CSP then got one last opportunity, but after a loose ball were only able to attempt a wild shot from Becher, which was missed off the side of the backboard.
The Golden Bears didn't score in the first 4:47 of the game and trailed 6-0 early. CSP used a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the day and extended the run to 17-4. Concordia led 19-14 after the opening quarter.
Concordia then held the Mustangs scoreless for 6:21 to take a 26-14 lead. The Golden Bears extended that lead to 36-19, which was the largest for either team in the game. The Mustangs finished the first half on an 8-2 run to trail 38-25 at halftime. Concordia-St. Paul shot 7-14 in the second quarter making five of its last six shots.
CSP extended the lead to 46-30 in the third quarter following a 3-point play by Becher and a 3-pointer by Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud. The Mustangs then started chipping away at the lead, getting it down to 58-49 to end the third quarter.
The Golden Bears were outscored 27-17 in the fourth quarter. Despite both teams making the same amount of field goals, Southwest Minnesota State shot eight more free throws than CSP in the quarter. The Mustangs went 9-10 from the charity stripe in the final period.
Along with her 28 points, Becher finished the game with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. She made 10 out of her last 11 shots before the final two fourth-quarter possessions. Becher received her fourth foul after getting two fouls back-to-back on one possession, which limited her playing time in the final quarter.
Redshirt freshman forward Lauren Wilson finished with 18 points shooting 8-15 from the field. She grabbed six rebounds and finished with three assists. Junior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher finished with a career-high 13 assists, which is tied for ninth in a game in school history. Kanenwisher added eight points, four rebounds and two blocks to her totals.
Junior forward Megan Gamble grabbed a team-high seven rebounds scoring five points with three assists. Dengerud and Emma Mommsen finished with six points each. Freshman guard Ashley Schuelke scored four points and had a team-best +13 margin on the floor.
Stoltzman led the Mustangs with 27 points coming just short of a double-double with nine rebounds. She also led the team in assists with five. Sam Wall scored 18 points, Hannah Parsley scored 12 points and Madison Gehloff scored 12 points.
The Golden Bears outscored SMSU 44-26 in the paint and 10-5 in bench points. SMSU led 17-13 in points off of turnovers, 11-3 in second-chance points and 9-2 on fast breaks. SMSU held a slight 33-32 rebounding advantage, but grabbed six more offensive boards than CSP.
Concordia-St. Paul shot 30-57 (52.6%) from the field and 11-13 (84.6%) from the free throw line. Southwest Minnesota State shot 22-58 (37.9%) from the field and 24-28 (85.7%) from the free throw line.
With the loss, the Golden Bears drop to fifth in the NSIC standings. Northern State, UMary and Southwest Minnesota State are all tied in second place with 13-5 records. Minnesota State (21-4, 18-1 NSIC) won the regular season NSIC Championship on Saturday.
The Golden Bears are back in action next weekend with a pair of road matchups against UMary (17-9, 13-5 NSIC) and Minot State (8-18, 5-12 NSIC). Tip-off against the Marauders is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 and tip-off against the Beavers is set for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17.
