PITTSBURG, Kan. - The No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team's (29-3) season ended in the NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State (27-4), 77-64. The Golden Bears shot 25-70 (35.7%) from the field in the loss.
Lydia Haack led the Golden Bears with 23 points, four assists and three rebounds. The junior guard played a team-high 38 minutes in the contest. Lindsey Becher added 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two assists. She finishes her career fifth all-time in scoring and fifth all-time in rebounding in program history.
SMSU's big run came in the third quarter. With CSP trailing 40-39, the Mustangs went on a 17-2 run to end the quarter. Peyton Blandin hit two 3-pointers and Bri Stoltzman added six points of her own to give SMSU a 57-41 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Golden Bears attempted to come back in the final quarter, but were only able to cut the lead to seven points with 6:30 minutes and then once again with four minutes remaining. Senior Megan Gamble hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to seven the first time. Haack scored seven points in the final quarter.
CSP opened the game with a Becher bucket off the opening tip. The Golden Bears then went 0-12 from the field allowing the Mustangs to take an 8-2 lead. Concordia trailed 15-10 at the end of the opening quarter, finishing it 4-19 (21.1%) from the field.
The Golden Bears once again cut the lead to one point at 22-21, but were halted by back-to-back SMSU 3-pointers. That helped the Mustangs go on a 13-2 run, but CSP answered with a 7-0 run to end the half trailing 34-30. CSP trailed 34-30 at halftime to the Mustangs in both games this season.
Ashley Schuelke added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. Leah Dengerud scored eight points with a team-high three steals. Julia Bengtson scored five points with four rebounds.
Gamble scored three points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Her 78 career starts and 113 games played are both 16th in program history. Lauren Wilson added two points and three rebounds off the bench.
SMSU was led by Audrey Swanson with 24 points and eight rebounds. Stoltzman tallied a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Blandin added 18 points shooting 7-10 (70%) from the field and 4-6 (66.7%) from behind the arc.
Southwest Minnesota State finished the game shooting 25-58 (43.1%) from the field. The Mustangs outscored CSP on turnovers, 21-19. The Golden Bears outscored the Mustangs 32-28 in the paint, 16-10 on second chances and 9-2 on fast breaks. The opening bucket was the only time CSP led in the game.
Haack's 528 points this season are the seventh-most in a single season in program history. Becher's three blocks per game average ties her own record in 2021-22 for the most in a single season in program history.
CSP's win streak ends at 16 straight games, marking the third-longest streak in program history. Concordia's 29-3 record marks the most wins in a season in program history. The Golden Bears now fall to 10-11 in the NCAA Tournament all time.
