ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (21-6, 17-5 NSIC) capped off the regular season in style, with a 96-75 win over the No.1-ranked Minnesota State Mavericks (27-1, 21-1 NSIC). The victory extends the Golden Bears winning streak to a baker's dozen 13 in a row to close out the regular season and head into the NSIC Tournament as either the No.2 or No.3 seed. 

CSP handed the Mavericks their first loss of the season, who came in riding a 27 game win streak with their last loss coming on March 15, 2025 to Pittsburgh State in the Second Round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament. 

It is the third time in program history the Golden Bears have bested the No.1-ranked team in the country, with the previous win occurring on March 4, 2009 against the Mavericks in Mankato. CSP took down MSU in overtime 86-77, at the Taylor Center in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament. 

As part of the Golden Bears dismantling of the Mavericks, Lauren Wilson became the 31st member of the Concordia 1,000 point club. The junior forward drove the lane at the 1:47 mark of the third quarter, making the layup and drawing the foul to put her at 999, she promptly sunk the and-one attempt to eclipse the 1K mark. 

Wilson was big for the Golden Bears all game long, leading the team in scoring with 27 points, while going 9-of-14 from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. She was key in the Golden Bears rebounding effort as well, grabbing 13 boards to notch her eighth double-double of the season. 

Senior guard Lydia Haack dropped 23 points in the win, shooting 7-of-16 from the floor and going a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line. Haack also managed six rebounds and dished out nine assists, while playing opportunistic defense with four steals. 

Fellow senior Leah Dengerud notched 18 points in the win, putting together a 6-of-10 shooting performance and knocking down 4-of-6 attempts at the line, with many of those coming down the stretch to seal the victory for CSP. 

Ashley Schuelke contributed eight points to the cause, with Emma Mommsen adding in four points. 

Ava Thompson and Avery Moeller came up with key buckets off the bench all game long, putting up nine and seven points respectively. Thompson was money from beyond the arc, hitting on 3-of-5 attempts from three. 

The Golden Bears were tough from outside all game long, hitting 40% (8-20) from beyond the arc, while the Mavericks hit just three three-point attempts all game long shooting a paltry 13.6% (3-22) from outside. 

Four Golden Bears were honored as part of the Senior Day festivities, with Lydia Haack, Leah Dengerud, Ella Campbell and Lauren Feddema being acknowledged for their contributions to the program as part of a pregame ceremony. 

Minnesota State controlled play early on, jumping out to a 6-2 lead and eventually leading 10-3 at the midway point of the period. CSP got to work from there putting together a 14-2 run to go up by five, with the Golden Bears eventually holding a 24-20 lead at the period's close. 

Lydia Haack beat the Mavericks' press early in the second, scooping up a loose ball and taking it the length of the court to put CSP up by eight. Ava Thompson knocked down a three ball to put the Golden Bears up by nine three minutes into the quarter, the teams traded blows for the remainder of the period with CSP holding a slim one point advantage at the break. 

The third quarter belonged to the Navy and Gold, coming out hot with a 14-0 run to take a commanding 59-43 run. Haack eventually extended the advantage to 17 on a three ball made possible by a steal from Lauren Wilson. 

Avery Moeller opened the fourth with a three ball of her own as CSP continued to respond the Mavericks attack with clutch buckets of their own. Adeline Kent cut the lead to just seven with 5:01 to play, but Wilson slammed the door on any notion of a comeback attempt with five points of her own. 

The Golden Bears closed the game out strong, using a 10-2 run to put an exclamation point on a 21 point win over the country's last remaining unbeaten team. 

CSP bested MSU on the glass, with 45 rebounds to their 39,while taking care of the ball against the Mavericks stingy press defense finishing the game with an even turnover margin of 15-15. CSP also managed to turn their turnovers into 15 points, while Minnesota State scored just 13 off turnovers. 

With the Golden Bears earning a first round bye in the NSIC Tournament, they will have a week to rest while they await their quarterfinal opponent. The tournament gets underway Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.