By: by Mary-Clare Couillard

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -  The Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (13-17, 8-14 NSIC) is advancing to the NSIC semifinals after defeating the South Division #2 seed Wayne State 80-70 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This will be the Bears first appearance in the NSIC semifinals since the 2013-14 season, when the Bears went on to compete in the NCAA championship game.
 
CSP continued their winning streak and made it six straight wins with the victory over the Wildcats, which is their longest winning streak of the season. CSP will face Winona State tomorrow, February 26^th, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
The team shot a solid 50.8% (30-59) from the field, which is the third time that the Bears have shot over 50.0% in the past four games. The Bears also shot 41.7% (5-12) from three and held their opponents to lower percentages in both categories, as the Wildcats shot 45.2% (28-62) and 30.0% (3-10) from behind the arc. CSP also held a 37-27 rebounding advantage in the contest.
 
Junior Lindsay Dorr put together a massive performance, scoring a career-high 25 points and nabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Anna Schmitt also ended with 25 points, which is her 13^th game with 20+ points on the season. Junior Hanna Vidlund did a little of everything in the win, ending with 14 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high 11 assists. Senior Haydn Becker was a strong presence on the boards, compiling eight rebounds throughout the game.
 
The Bears owned the first half, leading Wayne State 39-33 at the break. The team came out strong to start the game, already leading by ten at the first media timeout. The Bears would keep that ten-point lead, as first quarter time expired, up 25-15, shooting especially well, posting a 55.6% (10-18) field-goal percentage, and hitting three of four (75.0%) from deep.
 
The Wildcats scored the first four of the second quarter, but the Bears responded with the next eight points, capped off by a layup from Sydney Weierke, to lead by 12. Wayne State, however, finished the half on a 7-2 scoring run, cutting the Bears lead to six at the half. Dorr led all scorers at the half with 12 points, while also securing a team-high five rebounds. Schmitt ended the half with eight points and Vidlund added seven while shooting 60.0% (3-5) and registering six assists.
 
The Bears opened the second half with six straight points, but then allowed Wayne State to score the next 13, taking over the lead, 46-45, with 3:30 left to play in the quarter. Schmitt broke the scoring run with a layup, and the Bears would lead by one, 53-52, at the end of the quarter.
 
 To start the fourth quarter, the opponents traded baskets and were tied at 63 apiece with a little under four minutes left in the game. Dorr then completed the three-point and-one to give CSP the lead. The Wildcats answered with a layup, but then Schmitt scored the next five points to put the Bears up by six with 1:28 left. Wayne State again answered with a layup, making it a four-point game, but were forced to foul. The Bears scored nine points from the charity stripe within the last minute and the defense sealed the victory by getting four straight stops to win 80-70.
 
Four Wildcats ended in double figures, led by seniors Maggie Schulte and Paige Ballinger, who finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Andrea Larson and Brittany Bongartz each finished with ten points apiece.
 
With the win, the Bears will play again tomorrow in the NSIC semifinals, taking on Winona State at 5:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon. Live coverage of the game can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nsic/.