ST. PAUL, Minn. — The No. 25 Concordia St. Paul women's basketball team (5-4, 1-3) dropped a wire-to-wire contest to Southwest Minnesota State (5-4, 3-1) at the Gangelhoff Center Saturday night, 70-67.
Down by three late, the Golden Bears possessed the ball with 13 seconds to go, but Leah Dengerud couldn't connect on the game tying three point attempt, as the Mustangs escaped with a narrow three point win.
Lauren Wilson led the way for the Golden Bears scoring 20 or more points for the fourth time this season. The junior forward dropped 24 points in the loss, going 9-of-18 from the field, while recording 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and a steal.
Senior guard Lydia Haack put together an 18 point night, shooting 6-of-14 from the field. Haack also came away with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Emma Mommsen scored 9 points, with 3 boards and an assist. Leah Dengerud and Ashley Schuelke recorded 7 points each.
CSP grabbed an earlier 9-7 lead on an Ashley Schuelke 3 pointer. Leah Dengerud hit a pair of threes later to open up a five point lead, Concordia closed out the opening quarter with a 21-16 lead.
The Golden Bears picked up right where they left off, opening the second period with a Lydia Haack three ball. A 20-6 run helped the Mustangs to a six point lead with two minutes left in the half, with SMSU holding a 42-35 lead at the break.
Down 10 near the midway point of the third, Lauren Wilson scored seven consecutive points of her own to make it a four point game. The junior closed out the period with a driving layup in the paint to make it a three point game heading into the final quarter.
CSP reclaimed the lead for the first time since the second period on a Lydia Haack three pointer with 2:23 to play. After two more lead changes, the Mustangs held a 70-67 lead with 13 seconds to play.
The Golden Bears got two good looks from beyond the arc, but couldn't connect on either as SMSU came away with a narrow win, 70-67.
As a team CSP was 23-of-57 (40.4%) from the floor, while the Mustangs shot 25-of-50 (50%). The battle around the glass was close with Southwest holding a 34-30 advantage in rebounds.
Concordia forced 21 Southwest turnovers, making the most of their opportunities by scoring 21 points off turnovers to SMSU's nine.
The Golden Bears will look to get back in the win column Sunday afternoon, Dec. 14 against Sioux Falls at the Gnagelhoff Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
