ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (17-6, 13-5 NSIC) used an 18-4 third quarter advantage to down Sioux Falls (7-14, 5-12) on Friday evening. Junior center Lindsey Becher and redshirt freshman forward Lauren Wilson each scored 17 points in the 68-54 victory for the Golden Bears. 

After leading 32-30 at halftime, the Golden Bears started the third quarter on a 14-4 run over the first 5:17 of the second half. It was capped off by a 3-pointer from junior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher, forcing a timeout by the Cougars. CSP shot 6-10 from the field over that opening 5:17 of the second half compared to 2-9 by Sioux Falls. 

The Golden Bears held Sioux Falls scoreless for the rest of the third quarter shooting 0-7 from the field. CSP finished the third quarter shooting 50% from the field to lead 50-34. The Golden Bears extended the lead to 21 points in the fourth quarter before eventually winning the game by 14 points. 

Wilson finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and tied her season-high in assists with six. She shot 6-10 from the field, 2-2 from behind the arc and 3-4 from the free throw line. Becher finished with 17 points, five rebounds and tied her season-high in blocks with five. She finished 5-6 from the free throw line. After tonight's performance, Becher is at 983 career points nearing the quadruple-figure mark.

Kanenwisher scored 11 points and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds. She also tallied three assists and two blocks with a team-best +18 margin on the floor. Freshman guard Ashley Schuelke finished with nine points and three assists. 

Sophomore guard Leah Dengerud scored five points with a team-high three steals. Lauren Feddema and Emma Mommsen each finished 2-2 from the field scoring five points and four points respectively.

Sioux Falls started the game on a 6-0 run before Concordia answered with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the game. That was the largest lead for the Cougars in the game. The Golden Bears led 16-13 after the first quarter outscoring the Sioux Falls in the paint 8-2. 

The Cougars scored 10 of their 17 second-quarter points off of second-chance baskets. Freshman forward Kami Wadsworth scored nine points for Sioux Falls in the period. Sioux Falls outscored Concordia-St. Paul 17-16 in the second quarter after shooting six more shots than the Golden Bears. 

Sioux Falls was led by Wadworth with 17 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Brecli Honner scored 10 points for the Cougars. Freshman guard Ayla Brown led the team in assists with four. 

The Golden Bears finished 25-54 (46.3%) from the field and 6-14 (42.9%) from behind the arc. This was the second-best the Golden Bears have shot on 3-pointers this season, with the best being 3-6 (50%) against Augustana on Dec. 2. Concordia also shot 12-14 (85.7%) from the charity stripe. 

CSP held Sioux Falls to 20-59 (33.9%) from the field and 5-21 (23.8%) from behind the arc. Concordia held a slight 30-26 advantage in the paint and a 9-0 advantage on fast break points. Both teams scored 12 points on second-chance opportunities. 

Concordia-St. Paul is now in second place in the conference standings. The Golden Bears hold a half-game lead over Northern State, UMary and Southwest Minnesota State with 12-5 records. Minnesota State (20-4, 17-1 NSIC) clinched a share of the regular season title on Friday night with a win against Wayne State. 

The Golden Bears are back in action on Saturday for a pivotal game against Southwest Minnesota State (14-9, 12-4 NSIC). The Mustangs fell to Minnesota Duluth (15-7, 12-6) on Friday evening by a score of 72-57. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in the Gangelhoff Center.