Loper Charity Shots Lead To 85-76 Win

Nov. 28– KEARNEY, Neb. - 29 free throws made by the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney (4-1) were more than enough to make up for a low shooting average and led to an 85-76 win over Concordia University (4-2) on Friday evening.  The Golden Bears play Rockhurst University in their final game at the Country Inn & Suites UNK Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow at 4:00 pm. The Golden Bears out-shot the host Lopers 40.9% to 33.3% in the game played at the Health and Sports Center in Kearney.  The team was up in the opening minutes of the game, but UNK took over soon after for the remainder of the meeting.  Jamie Jones tabbed 20 points, just one point shy of a career high performance, to keep the Golden Bears within a shooting distance.  The team received double figure scoring from five players, as did the Lopers. Nebraska-Kearney won the non-conference dual from the charity stripe, where they sank 13 more shots than Concordia.  The Lopers hit 29-of-34 free throws for 85.3%.  Megan Becker made all eight of her attemps on her way to 14 points.  Another key to the win was UNK's ability to turn CU turnovers into buckets.  Nebraska-Kearney scored 29 points off of turnovers. The Golden Bears had a successful game down low, with forwards Candace Olstad, Shandrell Duncan and Gillian Bjerke dumping in 41 points.  The Golden Bears out-matched the Lopers with 36 points in the paint.  They nabbed 34 defensive boards to UNK's 33, but UNK came up with 17 offensive boards, leading to 16 second chance points. Concordia was down five points at the half, 29-34, but was never able to narrow the gap to less than four points.  They trailed by as many as 16 points near the midpoint of the second period before the Golden Bears finished the game with a 35-28 stretch of scoring.  CU hit 27-of-66 field goals for 40.9% while UNK hit 24-of-72 field goals.  The Golden Bears were out-shot from long range for the first time this season, hitting six triples to UNK's eight. Jones topped the Concordia scoring list with 20 points.  Candace Olstad followed with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists.  Bjerke came back from injury to drop in 12 points and nab eight boards in 20 minutes of play.  Duncan had a strong game for Concordia with ten points and a team high nine boards.  Zoraa Quoie wrapped up the double figure scoring list with ten points. Jade Meads and Jonni Mildenberger notched 18 points each for the Lopers.  Mead completed a double-double with 13 rebounds.  Topping all players in assists was Kaitlin Petri with seven.