ST. PAUL, Minn. - Ashley Schuelke scored a career-high 22 points to lead No. 12 Concordia-St. Paul (23-2, 17-2 NSIC) to a 75-69 victory vs. Northern State (15-10, 12-7 NSIC). The Golden Bears led 45-25 at halftime, but the Wolves stormed back in the second half, falling just short of a comeback.
Schuelke shot 8-11 (72.7%) from the field and 5-7 (71.4%) from behind the arc. That is a career-high field goals made in both marks. She surpassed her previous career-high of 19 points at Wayne State last season and the season-high of 18 points vs. Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 21, 2024. Schuelke returned on Friday after missing the previous three games due to injury.
CSP caught fire late in the first quarter and into the second quarter, going on a 12-2 run with four different scorers. The Golden Bears used another 11-3 run led by two Leah Dengerud 3-pointers and another by Schuelke to take a 45-23 lead, the largest of the game for CSP.
Schuelke and Lauren Wilson each had 11 points at halftime. Wilson was a force in the paint, scoring 10 of her points there. CSP was 17-31 (54.8%) shooting in the first half while the Wolves shot 9-25 (36%).
The script flipped in the second half, with the Wolves scoring the first four points. Northern State kept going on similar small runs, which ultimately helped them outscore the Golden Bears 20-12 in the third quarter.
Northern State scored six points without CSP really touching the ball at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter. Rianna Fillipi went 1-2 from the line, allowing NSU to get another chance with two seconds left in the quarter. Morgan Fiedler hit a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter and Michaela Jewett drilled a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, cutting the CSP lead to 57-48.
The Wolves kept battling, using a 15-2 run to cut the lead down to 59-56 with 8:05 left. The momentum was stalled a possession later as Schuelke hit a 3-pointer to give Concordia a six-point cushion. A few plays later, Julia Bengtson had back-to-back steals resulting in layups.
Those layups were followed by a Schuelke layup, stamping a 10-1 CSP run. The Wolves did not make a field goal for 5:43 and were scoreless for 4:56 in the quarter. Northern State cut the lead down to three points once again with 40 seconds left, but Lydia Haack made five free throws to ice the game.
Haack was CSP's second-leading scorer with 15 points while dishing out eight assists. This is Haack's sixth game with eight or more assists this season. She also grabbed five rebounds while shooting 11-13 (84.6%) from the charity stripe.
Wilson finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Her +/- was a team-high +18 in her 14 minutes on the court. Bengtson tallied eight points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Lindsey Becher finished with a team-high eight rebounds while adding seven points and five blocks. The senior has 16 blocks in CSP's last three games. Dengerud scored six points with five rebounds and a team-high four steals. Megan Gamble tallied six points and grabbed six rebounds.
Madelyn Bragg led Northern State scoring 23 points shooting 9-15 (60%) from the field. Fillipi tallied 18 points and seven assists playing all 40 minutes. Izzy Moore added 11 points in only 18 minutes as she was in foul trouble most of the night.
The Golden Bears were outscored 44-30 in the second half. At halftime, Northern State had eight fouls while Concordia had four. Play was much more physical in the second half with 12 fouls called on both teams.
NSU outscored CSP in the paint 38-36 and on second chances 12-6. The Golden Bear bench outscored Northern's 33-11. CSP also had a 17-16 advantage off of turnovers and 11-6 on fast breaks.
Concordia outrebounded Northern State 36-33 and had 19 assists while NSU finished with 11. Both teams had 16 turnovers and five blocks. The Golden Bears never trailed in the game.
With the win, CSP avenged a 66-60 loss to Northern State in Aberdeen on Jan. 4. The Golden Bears have now picked up wins against their two losses, Minnesota State and Northern State.Concordia has now won 10-straight games since the loss. This win broke a Northern State three-game winning streak in the series, marking CSP's first since 2022.
Concordia remains tied in first place in the NSIC standings with No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State (23-2, 17-2 NSIC). The Mustangs are on a 15-game winning streak and play Minnesota Crookston (9-16, 7-12 NSIC) on Saturday. No. 25 Minnesota State (20-5, 16-3 NSIC) is one game behind after defeating Minot State on Friday night.
23 wins is the most in a season since 2013-14 for the Golden Bears when they went 28-9. CSP won 21 games in the regular season that year. This is the most wins in a regular season for the Golden Bears since 2009-10, also winning 23. Concordia has a chance to tie 2007-08's regular season record of 25-2 with three games left this season.
The Golden Bears remain unbeaten at home this season at 13-0. They currently have a 14-game home winning streak, tying 2006-08 for third in program history. Concordia-St. Paul will have a chance against MSU Moorhead (12-13, 10-9 NSIC) on Saturday to complete the second-ever undefeated regular season at home in program history (2004-05).
Tip-off against the Dragons for Senior Day is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MSU Moorhead lost to Minnesota Duluth (8-16, 6-13 NSIC) on Friday night, 63-61. Becher, Bengtson, Gamble and Mikayla Kanenwisher will be honored for Senior Day.
