ST. PAUL, Minn. - After three games last week, the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (16-6, 12-5 NSIC) returns to action in the Gangelhoff Center this weekend against Sioux Falls (7-13, 5-11 NSIC) and Southwest Minnesota State (14-8, 12-3 NSIC). The Golden Bears enter the week fourth place in the NSIC with five games left to play on the schedule.
The action starts on Friday evening in St. Paul against Sioux Falls with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Concordia-St. Paul will then play Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
BUY TICKETS TO HOME GAMES ONLINE – AVOID THE LINE!
Fans are encouraged to buy tickets in advance and bring your QR code to the gates to skip the line! New for 2023, Concordia will be a cashless ticket experience for fans, so if you don't purchase ahead, make sure to bring your card to make your purchase at the gate.
Friends and families who utilize the pass list will also be utilizing the online ticketing service, while faculty & staff will access their free CSP tickets through the service. CSP students will have their all-sport season passes sent directly to their csp.edu email address.
Fans do not need to create a login, remember a username or password or download an app to purchase tickets. BUY ONLINE
WATCH HOME GAMES ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC basketball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and supported by BlueFrame Technology.
Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
All home games will feature the play-by-play broadcasting provided by Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. The St. Paul, Minnesota native studied broadcasting at Fordham University (N.Y.) where he was the voice of the Rams' football and basketball teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears played three games last week, with all of them coming down to the final minute. It started on Tuesday, Jan. 30 in a 59-57 win against Winona State. Junior center Lindsey Becher scored a season-high 23 points with six rebounds in the victory.
Becher was clutch down the stretch, making a right-handed layup to give CSP a 55-54 lead with 32.9 seconds. After the Warriors were able to tie the game at 57-57, Becher drew a foul with 1.4 seconds left and made the free throws to give CSP the victory.
Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud scored 14 points going 4-5 from behind the arc. Redshirt freshman forward Lauren Wilson scored 10 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Junior Megan Gamble grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds.
Concordia-St. Paul then picked up a double overtime victory in Wayne State on Friday night. With the Golden Bears trailing 61-58 in the first overtime, freshman guard Ashley Schuelke saved the day by making a 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds left. Schuelke scored a career-high 19 points shooting 4-6 from behind the arc.
Concordia then outscored Wayne State 12-5 in the second overtime to get the win. Becher and Wilson each added double-doubles in the victory. Wilson finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and four assists. Becher scored 14 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking five shots. Junior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher contributed nine points with seven rebounds and five assists.
After winning five straight games, the Golden Bears lost on Saturday as Augustana defeated CSP 61-60. Concordia-St. Paul finished the game on a 6-0 run, but Wilson nor Becher could score on the final two possessions to give the Golden Bears a lead.
Wilson finished with 20 points, five rebounds and three steals. She also went 7-7 from the free throw line. Becher scored 12 points with six rebounds. Kanenwisher scored 10 points with six rebounds and three assists.
SEASON LEADERS
Despite missing the last four games, senior guard Ally Gietzel leads the Golden Bears averaging 17.2 points per game, which is fifth in the NSIC. She leads CSP in rebounds per game averaging 6.8, which is eighth in the conference, and in steals averaging 1.6 per game, which is 12th in the conference.
Becher is second in the NSIC in blocks per game averaging 2.3. She's averaging 12.5 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. That puts her at 16th in the NSIC in scoring and 13th in rebounds.
Wilson is averaging 12.5 points per game tying her with Becher for 16th in the NSIC. She's averaging 5.0 rebounds per game and her high assist games this past week bumped her average to 1.6 per game.
Dengerud is averaging 8.2 points per game playing the second-most minutes on the team at 31.0 per game. Kanenwisher leads the team in assists averaging 3.0 per game which is seventh in the NSIC.
Concordia-St. Paul has the fifth-best scoring offense and the second-best scoring defense in the NSIC. They are averaging 66.6 points per game while giving up 59.5 points per game for a +7.1 margin which is fourth in the conference.
The Golden Bears also lead the NSIC in opponent field goal percentage allowing teams to shoot 36.3% from the field. CSP also leads the league in blocked shots averaging 5.73 per game.
MILESTONES
After her outstanding week, Becher is close to hitting some impressive career milestones. She is 36 points away from hitting 1,000 in her career. She's also close to triple digits in assists and steals with 91 assists and 93 steals in her career.
IN THE NSIC STANDINGS
No. 22 Minnesota State (19-4, 16-1 NSIC) is first in the conference with a three game lead over second place. Playing Wayne State and Augustana this upcoming weekend, the Mavericks have a chance to clinch the regular season conference title.
UMary (16-8, 12-4 NSIC) and Southwest Minnesota State (14-8, 12-4 NSIC) are in a tie for second place. CSP is in fourth place with a 12-5 conference record followed by Northern State (15-7, 11-5 NSIC). Northern State has lost three straight games. Just behind the Wolves are Minnesota Duluth (14-7, 11-6 NSIC) and St. Cloud State (13-7, 10-6 NSIC).
SIOUX FALLS SERIES HISTORY
Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 16, Sioux Falls 8
Concordia-St. Paul won the first six games against the Cougars starting in 2012. After losing three straight from 2019-21, the Golden Bears have won the last six games against the Cougars. CSP is 7-3 in the last 10 matchups and 8-4 all-time at home against Sioux Falls.
LAST MEETING WITH THE COUGARS
The Golden Bears picked up their eighth victory of the year with a 63-39 win in Sioux Falls, which was the largest margin of victory for CSP at the time. After being outscored 18-15 in the first quarter, CSP outscored Sioux Falls 48-21 the rest of the way.
The Golden Bears outscored the Cougars 24-3 on second-chance points and outrebounded them 37-29. Sioux Falls shot 7-35 (20%) after the first quarter and went 0-6 from behind the arc in the second half.
Gietzel led the Golden Bears in scoring with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. She also added a team-high three assists. Dengerud finished with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Kanenwisher finished with eight points, six of which came in the fourth quarter on two 3-pointers. Senior forward Jalyn Shaw finished with a season-high eight points.
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls enters this game on a four-game losing streak with its last win against Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 19. This will be the fourth game out of five that the Cougars have played a top-five NSIC team.
Freshman forward Kami Wadsworth leads the Cougars in scoring with 12.5 points per game. She scored 11 points in the previous game against CSP. Freshman guard Ayla Brown is averaging 10.2 points per game with a team-high 2.8 assists per game. Junior guard Brecli Honner averages 7.4 points and 1.7 assists per game.
Sioux Falls has the worst scoring offense in the NSIC averaging 56.2 points per game. The Cougars' scoring defense is eight in conference giving up 63.4 points per game. Their -7.2 margin is 12th in the NSIC. Sioux Falls is in the bottom half of the NSIC in almost every statistical category.
Travis Traphagen is in his 16th season as the head coach of Sioux Falls. He has a career record of 282-169 with the Cougars. He's previously led Sioux Falls to two NCAA Central Region appearances and an NSIC Tournament Championship.
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 45, Southwest Minnesota State 20
Concordia and Southwest Minnesota State started playing in 1975 with the Mustangs winning the first game of the series. The Mustangs won 12 straight games from 1987 to 2002 against CSP. After that, the Golden Bears won 38 of 40 games against Southwest Minnesota State from 2003-2020.
Concordia-St. Paul has lost the last two games against Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Bears are 6-4 in the last 10 matchups and hold an all-time 23-4 record at home against the Mustangs. This will be the 66th meeting between the teams.
LAST MEETING WITH THE MUSTANGS
CSP picked up its first NSIC loss of the season on Dec. 8, 2023, in Marshall. The 64-62 victory for the Mustangs was their third of the year and it sparked a 10-game win streak that turned their season around.
The Golden Bears never led in the contest and faced a largest deficit of 11 points in the second quarter. Trailing 52-51, Concordia-St. Paul had multiple chances to take the lead with shots by Schuelke and Lauren Feddema. Wilson had free throws to take the lead as well, but missed them both.
Gietzel scored four points late to cut the Mustang lead down to two points. On the final possession, both Gietzel and Becher had final chances to tie the game, but both Golden Bears would miss their shots.
Gietzel finished with 27 points and seven rebounds playing every minute of the game. She shot 61.1% from the field compared to the rest of the team shooting 29.1% from the field.
The Golden Bears only made two 3-pointers in the game. CSP gave up 14 points off of turnovers in the first half, which finished the game as a 16-9 deficit for them. They did outscore SMSU 44-30 in the paint.
The Mustangs were led by junior guard Bri Stoltzman with 26 points shooting 10-19 from the field. Senior guard Madison Gehloff scored 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds. SMSU shot 16-16 from the free throw line and 6-23 from behind the arc.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Southwest Minnesota State had a chance to close the gap with first-place Minnesota State this past weekend, but lost 87-67 at home on Friday night. The Mustangs rebounded on Saturday with a 78-61 victory over Winona State. The Mustangs are 2-2 in their last four games.
Stoltzman is third in the NSIC in scoring at 18.0 points per game. She's shooting 47.8% from the field this season and also leads the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game. She's fourth in the NSIC in assists per game averaging 3.4 along with being eighth in steals averaging 2.0 per game.
Senior guard Sam Wall is next on the scoring list averaging 13.0 points per game. She's also averaging 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Gehloff is averaging 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Senior guard Hannah Parsley is averaging 9.7 points per game and junior guard Peyton Blandin is averaging 9.0 points per game.
The Mustangs have the second-best scoring offense in the NSIC averaging 75.8 points per game. In contrast, they have the 13th-best scoring defense giving up 67.1 points per game. Despite the high defensive average, they have the second-best scoring margin in the NSIC.
Southwest Minnesota State leads the NSIC in field goal percentage shooting 44.3% from the field and 36.0% from behind the arc. They also have the best free throw percentage in the NSIC at 76.0%.
Tom Webb is in his eighth season as the head coach for Southwest Minnesota State. He has a record of 91-110 with the Mustangs and an overall record of 182-233 in his 15 seasons as a head coach at the Division II level.
