ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia University (13-6, 5-4 NSIC) broke out of a recent three-point shooting slump on Saturday afternoon, using the long range shot ontheir way to a win over Southwest Minnesota State (10-9, 2-7 NSIC). The Golden Bears hit five threes in the second half of the game and took a 60-55 win over the Mustangs.
The bitterly close second period saw leads from both teams and the scoring spread never favored either team by more than five points. The Mustangs held a 46-44 lead with seven minutes to play before Kali Olstad drained a triple to put her team ahead. Another three-pointer from Olstad a minute and a half later broke a tie and put the Golden Bears up for the final time. Southwest Minnesota State only allowed the Golden Bears another nine points following the Olstad shot at 51-48, but Concordia made a number of stops to maintain their lead. Jamie Jones put in the team's final three-pointer at the 3:14 mark to give Concordia their largest lead of the half, 56-51.
Saturday afternoon's game did not feature high shooting figures from either team, with final field goal averages sitting in the low 30% range. The Golden Bears received their first bucket of the night from freshman Kelly Supernaw three minutes into play. It was the only field goal hit by Concordia through more than eight minutes of the first half. The Mustangs saw a bit more success early on, but not much and only put in 14 points in the first ten minutes.
The Golden Bears then worked their way back into the game, getting to the free throw line in a tightly called game to narrow the margin. They continued to take looks from three-point range despite the slump, and shots began to fall in the final minutes of the half. A 10-0 Concordia run started out at the free throw line and continued with three-pointers from Jones and Supernaw, setting the score at 19-18 in favor of SMSU at the 3:26 mark. The Golden Bears went on to take the lead prior to halftime, using an Olstad triple to go up by two. CU led 23-22 at the half.
Concordia did a good job of containing Southwest guards in the second half, with the Mustangs scoring most of their points from in the paint. The Golden Bears also capitalized on Mustang turnovers, scoring 15 points off of SMSU's 11 turnovers in the period. SMSU's Laura Kramer did the most damage in the second half, dropping in ten points and pulling down six rebounds. She held the visitors in the game late, scoring back-to-back jumpers in the paint around the three minute mark. Despite her efforts, the Mustangs did not hit another field goal following these jumpers.
Concordia received double figure scoring performances from four players. Zoraa Quoie had 11 points, including six from the free throw line, while Supernaw, Jones and Shandrell Duncan each added ten points. Duncan had a team high nine rebounds, followed by Supernaw with eight. The Golden Bears shot 34.5% from the field and had 43 rebounds.
Southwest Minnesota State was led by a career high scoring effort from Kramer, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Sara Leidall added 13 points and five rebounds. The Mustangs shot 33.3% from the field and missed too many opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting only 11-of-19 shots. They out-rebounded CU with 44 boards.
No comments:
Post a Comment