ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (14-2, 8-2 NSIC) stole the ball a season-high 16 times to defeat St. Cloud State (8-6, 5-4 NSIC), 72-55. Senior guard Julia Bengtson scored a team-high 23 points and recorded a career-high six steals.
This is Bengtson's second time scoring 20 or more points this season as she last did it on Dec. 6, 2024, against Sioux Falls (S.D.). She is averaging 17.67 points per game in the first three games of 2025.
Junior guard Lydia Haack added 19 points, eight assists, three steals and a career-high three blocks. CSP scored 20 points on her eight assists. Leah Dengerud added 14 points shooting 4-5 from behind the arc.
With 5:14 left in the first quarter, senior center Lindsey Becher blocked a shot attempt by St. Cloud State's Paige Lambe. This marked 265 career blocks for Becher, breaking the school record previously held by Kionda Nicks from 2012-16. Becher achieved the feat in 25 fewer games.
The Golden Bears started the game on a 6-0 run, all by Bengtson. SCSU used an 8-2 run to tie the game at 10-10. The rest of the quarter was back-and-forth with CSP holding a slight 16-14 lead at the end of it.
CSP pulled away in the second quarter led by Bengtson with 11 points. After CSP trailed 27-26, the Golden Bears used a 7-0 run to take a 33-27 lead. After a bucket by SCSU, Bengtson scored the last four points of the half, including a buzzer-beating putback. Concordia finished the half on an 11-2 run to lead 37-29 at the break.
After two scoreless minutes in the second half, the Golden Bears emerged using an 8-2 run featuring back-to-back Dengerud 3-pointers, bumping the lead to 45-31. Haack led the Golden Bears in the quarter with eight points after playing all 10 minutes and Concordia led 55-40 at the end of it.
The Golden Bears utilized their aggressive defense in the final quarter of play, scoring nine points off of turnovers. CSP pushed the lead to 22 points with 2:30 left to play with Bengtson recording four points and three steals in the quarter. Dengerud also went 2-2 from behind the arc in the final period to add six points.
Becher finished with eight points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Senior forward Megan Gamble grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while stealing the ball three times. She also added four points.
Emma Mommsen scored two points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked two shots, tying her career-high. Lauren Wilson added two points and four rebounds. Bengtson also finished with five rebounds.
CSP's 16 steals surpassed the 15 steals the team recorded vs. Truman State (Mo.) on Nov. 15, 2024. The Golden Bears totaled nine blocks in the game, marking a season-high beating the seven blocks the team recorded vs Maryville (Mo.) and Winona State.
The Golden Bears finished 28-61 (45.9%) from the field. CSP shot 6-13 (46.2%) from behind the arc and 10-10 (100%) from the free-throw line. Concordia is 40-41 (97.6%) from the charity stripe in the last four games.
St. Cloud State finished 19-55 (34.5%) from the field, which is the team's second-lowest total of the season. The Huskies shot 5-19 (26.3%) from behind the arc and 12-15 (80%) from the charity stripe. SCSU's 24 turnovers were its most this season.
CSP won the battle in the paint, outscoring SCSU 42-18. The Golden Bears also outscored the Huskies 24-6 off of turnovers and 21-2 on fast breaks. The Huskies outrebounded the Golden Bears 39-32.
Alana Zarneke led St. Cloud State with 14 points shooting 6-11 (54.5%) from the field. Rachel Kottke added nine points off the bench. Paige Lambe and Jada Eggebrecht each added seven points.
The Golden Bears now jump to two wins ahead of No. 25 Southwest Minnesota State (12-2, 6-2 NSIC) and Northern State (9-5, 6-2 NSIC). No. 11 Minnesota State (13-2, 9-0 NSIC) is in first place.
Concordia-St. Paul is off this weekend as the Golden Bears return to action in the Gangelhoff Center on Friday, Jan. 17 vs. Minnesota Crookston (5-9, 3-5 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m. CSP will then face Bemidji State (4-8, 2-6 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
