SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CSP) — For the second straight season the Concordia-St. Paul women’s basketball claims the NSIC Tournament Championship with a 79-71win over the No.3 ranked Minnesota State Mavericks. It is the sixth time the Golden Bears have won the conference championship and the second time they’ve done so in back-to-back seasons, with the first […]
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (CSP) — For the second straight season the Concordia-St. Paul women’s basketball claims the NSIC Tournament Championship with a 79-71win over the No.3 ranked Minnesota State Mavericks. It is the sixth time the Golden Bears have won the conference championship and the second time they’ve done so in back-to-back seasons, with the first being the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons. In addtion to the title the Golden Bears are winners of 16 in a row, a streak dating back to Jan. 10.
With the win the Golden Bears receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Central Region Tournament for the second year in a row, it will mark the 15th time CSP have made an appearance at the central region tournament.
It is also the second time in as many seasons that the Golden Bears have defeated the Mavericks to claim the conference crown, after defeating Minnesota State 92-73 in last season’s NSIC Championship game. CSP is now 2-1 against MSU this season after taking down the Mavericks two weeks ago to close out the regular season.
“Playing Mankato we knew what it was going to be like,” Head Coach Amanda Johnson said. “We saw them at the end of our regular season, and these girls just showed up…when you have players that you know you can trust and listen and work hard, it makes for a fun season.”
The Golden Bears were led by junior forward Lauren Wilson who finished the day with a 18 point, 17 rebound double-double falling one shy of the NSIC Tournament record of 18 boards. For her performance Wilson was named NSIC Tournament Most Valuable Player, and to the All-Tournament team for the second time in her career.
“It’s just my team getting me the ball,” Lauren Wilson said. “I’m back a lot in the press, so they have a lot of girls up, and I’m just sitting in the short corner waiting for a pass.”
Wilson was 7-of-15 shooting from the field, and 4-of-6 at the charity stripe, while coming up qith two blocks and one steal on defense.
Senior guard Lydia Haack was big as well, scoring 17 points in the win, while dishing out eight assists and grabbing six boards, coming away with five steals on defense as well. Haack was efficient from the floor, going 4-of -9 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, being named to the NSIC All-Tournament team for the second straight season.
Ashley Schuelke tallied 17 points as well, going 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-5 from three, with three assists and four rebounds. As a result Schuelke was the Golden Bears third member of the NSIC All-Tournament team, her first All-Tournament Honor.
Leah Dengerud came up with 13 points in the win, going a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line and grabbing four rebounds. Avery Moeller was the fifth Golden Bear to tally double digits in the winning effort, dropping 10 off the bench.
As a team CSP shot at a 42.4% (25-59) clip while limiting the Mavericks to just 31.7% (26-82) from the field. From beyond the arc CSP was the stronger team as well, hitting at a 34.6% (9-26) while MSU shot just 14.3% (3-21) from outside.
CSP had the hot hand earlier on, opening up a 6-0 lead at the first quarter media timeout. The lead soon grew to 10-0 on a Ashley Schuelke layup, from there Minnesota State put together a run of their own 11-0 to make it a 13-12 game at the end of one period of play.
Avery Moeller got the second quarter started by knocking down a three ball to open a four point advantage. The Mavericks eventually tied things up at 18 in the second, and later taking their first lead of the contest at 21-20. MSU eventually held a five point lead at the halftime break.
CSP got things rolling in the third, opening the period with a Leah Dengerud three-pointer, later opening up a six point lead on a Lauren Wilson layup. MSU knotted things up once more at 50, before the Golden Bears regained control by grabbing the next four points, closing the quarter with a 57-53 lead.
The Golden Bears stretched their lead to 10 in the fourth thanks to clutch three-point shooting from Avery Moeller. As a team CSP hit at a 66.7% (4-6) clip in the fourth, opening up an eight point lead on back-to-back Schuelke three balls with 4:25 to play. Closing things out from there to put the finishing touches on an eight point win and their second straight NSIC Tournament title.
CSP will now await their seed and opponent for the upcoming NCAA Central Region Tournament which will be revealed on Sunday, Mar. 8 as part of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Selection Show, with the tournament set to take place Mar. 13-16.
“Postseason is a grind, we’ll see who we match up with,” Johnson said. “For us it’s rest, then shpw up for practice, compete, have fun, and go game by game.”
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Category: General Sports
