Box Score
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Playing on their home court in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health tournament semifinals, the Concordia University-St. Paul Golden Bears edged Northern State University 74-67 to advance to the championship game and end NSU's hopes for their first conference tournament championship since moving to Division II.
The Wolves, who were playing in their eighth tournament semifinals since 2000, fell to 1-7 in second round games and now sit at 20-8 on the season. NSU was the second seed in the tournament by virtue of their two regular-season wins over the Golden Bears, who were able to exact their revenge tonight to move to 19-9 overall.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Golden Bears snatched the lead for good just before the mid-game break after Carissa Wolyniec canned a trey and Rachel Hansen layed one in on the final possession of the stanza to break what had been a 32-32 tie.
The Golden Bears pushed their advantage to as many as 15 points with just over ten minutes left in the game on a 3-point play by Jineen Williams. After trading baskets on their ensuing possessions, the Wolves then mounted a 10-0 run that cut the lead to just four 62-58 with 5:15 left to go.
Four different players scored in that NSU run, including junior
Emily Becken, who capped the flurry with a pair of free throws.
The Golden Bears, however, immediately pushed the lead back to nine and converted on enough possessions to stave off every Northern State advance the rest of the way.
The Wolves put four players in double figures, led by seniors
Krista Rabenberg and
Jodi Reinschmidt, who scored 16 and 15, respectively. Becken added 13, while sophomore
Sarah Hintz put up a career high 11 points off the bench.
CSP got a career-best effort from senior Maurika Hickman, who finished with 30 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Williams, also a senior, finished with 15 points, while senior Shandrell Duncan came off the bench for a season-high 14.
The Wolves now await the announcing of the NCAA Central Region Tournament field, which will be announced via live webcast on Sunday. The selection show will begin at 8:30 p.m. (CST).
